Sorriso, mi Liebling
by Volcarona
Summary: When Felicia Vargas starts a new school, she never imagines that it will end up changing her life so much. New friendships, relationships, and rivalries abound in Silverville High School. (Currently being edited and re-posted, please bear with me.)
1. Chapter 1

Felicia bounced on her toes, her book bag bumping into her legs as she waited for the school bus to arrive. Today was her first day at her new school, though it had been in session for more than a month now. She was so excited to see her new school! Her last school had been really boring, and there had been only a few students. She'd only had a couple of friends, who had been fun, but still. She wanted lots of friends to hang out with! Hopefully she would meet lots of new friends at the new school. Thinking of this, she started to hum happily.

Someone kicked her in the back of her knee, and she stumbled forward, nearly dropping her sketchpad on the sidewalk. "Oh!" she exclaimed, catching herself. She resituated the sketchpad in her arms and straightened, giving her older sister a glare. "Lovina, that hurt! Why are you so mean?"

"Just be quiet, Feli. I don't want to put up with your annoying songs right now." Lovina frowned at her, two little lines appearing between her eyes. Felicia giggled.

"You look funny~!" she said, and turned back toward the street before Vina could reply. "Ooh, look!" she exclaimed, pointing down the road. "Look, it's the school bus! Hello, Mr. School Bus!" she called, waving her arm and grinning.

Lovina grabbed the strap of her book bag and yanked her backwards with a growl. "Idiot!" she said. "Stay out of the street!" She yanked on the strap once more, choking Felicia, who hadn't even noticed that she'd stepped off the curb.

The dirty yellow bus pulled up in front of them and opened its door with a _voosh_. Felicia happily bounced aboard, Lovina trailing behind her, grumbling.

'Howdy, girls!" the bus driver greeted them. "You're the Vargas sisters, ain'tcha?"

"Yep! I'm Felicia, and this is my sister Lovina! This is our first day of school, and we're really excited, aren't we, Vina~?"

"No."

"Ve, she's just a little shy~!" Felicia said with a grin. The bus driver smiled at her, his cheeks forming dimples. He handed them each a sheet of green paper.

"These here are the bus rules," he told them. "You and your parents look those over tonight and sign on that line there, and bring those to me in the morning. Do you understand?"

Felicia nodded. "We will! Thank you, sir! Vina and I are going to go and sit down now~!"

They were evidently one of the first stops of the morning, as there were only a few other kids on the bus, gazing out the windows or sleeping, paying no attention to the newcomers. Felicia made her way down the aisle and slid into a seat in the middle, patting the spot next to her. "Let's sit together, Vina! Come on, come and sit with me~!"

Lovina walked past her sister and flopped into a seat two spots back, just as the bus started moving again. She refused to answer any of Feli's pleas, choosing instead to stare angrily out the window.

After a few minutes of the silent treatment, Felicia, too, turned her attention to the outside world. Silverville was far from a big city, with only 5,000 residents, but it was still much bigger than the tiny town they'd lived in for twelve years. There was a movie rental store, and an ice cream parlor, and four gas stations, and a general store, and three second-hand stores, and two grocery stores, and a whole bunch of different restaurants! There were even three different schools: a primary school, a middle school, and a high school! In their old town, there had only been two schools, and they were really small, with only thirty kids in each one.

It would be nice to spend her last two years of high school with new people, but it was too bad Vina was graduating this year…

The bus made a small screeching noise as it pulled up at another stop. Feli turned to watch as two boys climbed on the bus, smiling. They both looked nice and friendly! They were both blond, and they looked so similar that she knew they had to be twins.

` The boy in front was being really loud and laughing a lot, but he fell silent when he saw Feli watching him. He grinned and slid into the seat in front of her, while the other boy sat across the aisle from him.

"Hey!" said the first boy, holding out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Alfred F. Jones, but you can call me your hero!" he winked at her as she took his hand, and she giggled.

"Hi, I'm Felicia, and that's my sister Lovina!"

Lovina leveled a glare at Alfred, but he simply shouted, "Hi, Lovina!" and waved.

"This is our first day of school here, and I'm so excited! I've never been to a school so big before, and so I'm a little nervous, but I bet I'll have lots of fun and make lots of friends! Ooh, I'm in three electives! I go to Chorus for first period, and Home Ec. for third, and I get Art for fifth! Isn't that exciting? Oh!" she covered her mouth and looked over at the other boy. "I'm sorry, I didn't say hi to you! Hi, I'm Felicia!" she waved, and the boy smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Felicia. I'm Alfred's brother, Matthew." He spoke in a soft voice barely above a whisper and gave her a gentle smile.

"Okay, Matthew! I'll be sure to remember your name! Hey, do you guys want to be my friends? We'd have a lot of fun, and you could show my sister and me around the school, and I could make you guys pasta, and—"

"Sure, we can be friends!" Alfred interrupted. "And a hero never leaves behind a damsel in distress! Me and Mattie'll show ya 'round the school when we get there. There's only a coupla more stops, and we'll be there in 'bout twenty minutes!"

The bus stopped several times more, and Felicia chatted with her two new friends. The other kids barely glanced at her and simply flopped into their seats, but Feli didn't really mind. She would have plenty of time to make friends!

The school was much bigger than their old one had been, and Felicia stared at it, open-mouthed. Even Lovina seemed surprised for a moment, though she quickly hid it behind a scowl. "Come on, bastards," she said to the boys. "Just show us where our classes are!"

Felicia grabbed onto her sister's arm. "Vina, don't be so mean~!" she said. "Besides, Alfred says we have to go to the office first and get checked in!" She turned to him. "Can you show us where it is, now?"

"Sure thing!" he began to lead the two new girls into the main entrance, though Matthew left them, saying that he had to go meet someone in the cafeteria.

Lovina only managed to shake her stupid sister off her arm when they had entered the school, when her small brain got too occupied with taking in all the bustling students to hang on anymore. The office was just inside the main entrance, and there they each received a packet of papers, which they were to have their teachers and parents sign.

"Here, let me see your schedules." Alfred put out his hand, and the girls handed them to him. Felicia's was folded neatly in half, and she gave it to him promptly; Lovina had to dig through her bag for a moment before she extracted it. Alfred glanced at them.

"Okay," he said after a moment. "Felicia, you have your first class with my brother Mattie, and Lovina, you have Calculus." He glanced up at them. "C'mon, I'll show you guys where your lockers are, and then we can get to your classes!"

Their lockers were right next to each other, as it happened, and they were also located very near to both of their first-period classrooms. After they had put away their things, Alfred led them to their classes, chatting animatedly about upcoming events, like the Homecoming game and dance, which would be next weekend. Felicia felt herself grow lighter at the news. A dance! She'd never been to a dance before! How exciting!

They stopped at Lovina's class first, which was already mostly full. Felicia gave her one last, tight hug before wishing her good luck and following after her new friend.

"And here's the Music Department!" said Alfred, gesturing into a big, open room. Musical instruments and sheet music were scattered about the place, and about a dozen students were gathered inside, chatting or tuning their instruments. "Mattie's over there, see? Near the dark-haired guy at the piano."

"Ah, okay! Hi, Mattie~!" She waved at him, and then looked back to Alfred. "Thank you for helping me find my class!" she said. "But what about next period? How will I get there?"

"Oh, well you have Geometry with me next period, but my class is way across the school, so I can't come and get you. Um…oh! Just follow the guy at the piano—he's a dick named Roderich. He has Geometry, too." Alfred looked up at the digital clock, which was bolted to the wall above the door. "Oh, crap! I've gotta go, but I'll see you next period, okay Felicia?" He grinned and glanced across the room, his expression darkening for a moment before he shook himself. "Well, bye, Felicia!" He dashed out the door, just as the bell rang.

Felicia looked around the room one more time as more students began to file in. She noticed a girl with long, shiny brown hair sit on the piano bench beside Roderich and lean against him, and she smiled. There was another girl with blonde ringlets standing in a corner, shuffling through some sheet music. A flute case rested at her feet.

She didn't see a teacher anywhere and, glancing down at her papers, she shuffled through them until she found the one that was for this class, setting it on top of the others. "Matthew!" She called, hurrying over to the blond boy. "Do you know where the teacher is? I have to get him to sign this!"

"Oh, he just came in now," he said, gesturing to a tall man who was striding toward them. "That's Mr. Jones; no relation to me or Al, by the way."

Felicia nodded her thanks and approached the teacher, waving the paper around like a flag. "Ve~! Hello, Mr. Jones! I'm Felicia Vargas! Can you please sign this for me?"

Chorus was lots of fun. There were lots of kids who played instruments, and everyone did a great job! She had to start out by singing a song for Mr. Jones, so she chose a pretty Italian lullaby that her mama used to sing to her when she was little, and Mr. Jones was very impressed. He said she had a very pretty voice, and that he wanted her to do a solo act at the next concert.

Everyone had cheered for her, except the brunettes, who both frowned at her, though she didn't know why.

When the bell rang to go to her next class, Felicia had grabbed her new sheet music and her book bag and looked around for Roderich. She followed him out the door and into a flood of people.

She froze immediately, her heart starting to pound. She'd never seen this many people in one place before! There must have been hundreds of kids! Roderich was quickly lost in the panic, and several students shoved her or stepped on her feet as they made their way past her.

"Felicia? Are you okay?" Mattie was beside her suddenly, and she turned and flashed him a grateful smile. "Si," she said." I just don't know how to get to my Geometry class…"

"Oh, my classroom is just past it. Here, I'll show you where it is." He took her hand and tugged her through the crowd, somehow managing to dodge the oncoming flood and weave his way through the crowd without being bowled over.

Felicia was impressed.

"Here you go," said Matthew a few moments later, releasing her hand outside of a classroom door. "This is Ms. York's class, and she can be pretty mean; but my brother's in there, so he'll watch out for you." He gave her another small smile and a matching wave, and she grinned at him as he left.  
"Ve~! Thank you very much, Matthew!"

Barely two hours had passed, and she already had two friends and three fun classes! Felicia was enjoying her new school very much.

* * *

School sucked.

Barely two hours had gone by, and Lovina had already been shown up by her sister on the bus, been called on _twice_ in Calculus, and had somehow lost her best pen. She cursed under her breath and whipped the schedule out of her pocket. "Hey, Teacher!" she called to the man behind the desk, as the other students hurriedly left the classroom. "Where's the Art room at?"

"Down the hall and take a right, and go straight until you see the giant mural on the wall. You can't miss it," he said in a bored tone, not even bothering to look up. Lovina scowled and spun around to leave. Stupid bastard teacher at this stupid bastard school. Why had she had to move away, anyway? It was her senior year, and she'd been going to that same school since she was in sixth grade! It wasn't fair.

She followed the teacher's instructions, dodging through the crowd of kids and tripping a couple of them. She snickered. Served them right for being such dicks. She wasn't entirely sure _how_ they were being dicks, but she knew for a fact that they were.

It didn't take long to find the art room. In a big common area, one of the walls was covered with a big design of three gray wolves, the school's mascots. One of the wolves had its head thrown back in a wild howl, another one was snarling angrily at something to the left, and the third was sleeping on the ground, its expression peaceful. Lovina wished she could paint like that.

Feli probably could.

She snorted and walked through the door near the wolves, which was clearly marked "Art." At least she wouldn't forget where this room was.

* * *

The bell rang, announcing the end of second period, and Felicia smiled, tucking her new Geometry textbook into her book bag and standing up. She didn't know why Matthew had said Ms. York was mean; she'd been really nice! She had let Feli pick out her own textbook, and told her that she could sit in any of the empty seats that she wanted! There had been an open seat next to Alfred, so she'd taken it. She was also sitting right behind the girl with the pretty blonde ringlets, she had noticed. Her name was Alice, and she had gigantic eyebrows.

Also, Alfred had stared at Alice almost the entire time. Felicia thought it was cute.

Her next class was Home Ec., which was in the opposite direction of both Alfred and Alice's class. He had told her where to go, though, and she thought that it would be okay.

Until she'd stepped out into the hallway, and been swept off course by another flood of students.

She didn't dare move out of the line she was in, for fear of being trampled by one or more of the kids coming from the opposite direction, and soon she found herself in an area of the school she didn't recognize. The crowd began to thin out, and she tried to retrace her steps…but somehow, she'd gotten turned around, and now she didn't know where to go. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

"Um…" a thickly-accented voice came from behind her, and she turned around to find a tall, square-jawed boy with slicked-back blond hair. She felt something flicker inside her, but it was gone before she could tell what it was. She blinked back her tears and smiled at him.

"Hi!" She said. "I'm Felicia! Do you know where the Home Ec. room is?"

The boy blinked his blue eyes at her. "Oh…j-ja. I'm Ludwig. Um, Home Ec. is my class, too, so…I can take you there, if you want…"

Felicia felt her mood brighten considerably. "Oh, grazie, grazie!" she said, and she would have thrown her arms around her new friend if not for her sketchpad and binder.

Ludwig swallowed noticeably and nodded once before turning and walking off down the hallway. It took Feli a moment before she realized that she should follow him, and she raced after him to avoid being left behind.

"This school is so big!" she said as she fell into step behind him. "Ve, I've never been to such a big school! I almost got run over by a bunch of kids, which is why I got lost." She giggled and glanced up at the tall boy. "Good thing I ran into you, huh? Or else I'd still be stuck back there, waving my hands around until someone took pity on me or something."

He simply grunted in response, and Felicia frowned slightly. Did he not like her? She hoped he did, because she liked him! It was very nice of him to help her find her classroom, even though he didn't have to.

They walked into a big, open area with a mural on one of the walls. Feli brightened at the sight of the three beautiful wolves. "Ve~! Who painted those? They're amazing!"

Ludwig glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Oh, I believe it was a group of students who graduated a few years ago. Erm…the painting vas already here when I enrolled…" He cleared his throat and pointed to a small alcove up ahead. "That is our classroom. I will take you to the teacher, if you would like…"

She grinned at him as they entered the room. "Ah, grazie! Could you, please?" She understood now. It wasn't that he disliked her; he was just shy and a little awkward! Maybe Ludwig would be her new friend, too!

Ludwig led her to the front of the classroom, and she smiled and waved at the other students, who gazed at her with looks ranging from boredom to extreme curiosity. "Hallo, Ms. Pond," he said to an elderly lady sitting behind a big desk. "Erm, this is Felicia, and she is a new student." He nodded to each of them before turning and heading for his seat, which was toward the back of the class.

"Ve~! Hello, Ms. Pond!" said Felicia. She handed her the page she needed signed. "Does it matter where I sit? Or can I pick my own place? What will we be doing in class? I'm really good at cooking, but I've never tried to sew before, and will we be doing that project with the flour sacks, where you pretend they're babies and take care of them? And also—" She paused as the bell rang once again, and then opened her mouth to resume her interrogation.

Ms. Pond laughed and handed the paper back to her. "Hold your horses, young lady," she said, her eyes twinkling merrily behind her glasses. "You can go sit wherever you like for now. We're going to be starting a project today, and after I assign partners, you'll sit together with them." She shooed her away, standing to get class started.

There weren't any open seats next to Ludwig, but there was one in the center of the room, in between a dark-skinned, bored-looking boy and a girl with short, pale hair and rather large…er, attributes. Felicia smiled at them both in turn and slid into the seat. She started to introduce herself, but Ms. Pond interrupted her.

"Alright, class! Like I said on Friday, today we'll be starting a partner project! For the next three months, you and your partner will act as a married couple: You will cook together, you will plan finances together, you will purchase cars, houses, and pay bills together. You will also," she continued, amidst various noises of both agreement and disgust. "You will also," she said, raising her voice, "be raising children together. Now, we have two more boys than girls in this class, so I'll have to ask for volunteers. Who wants to be a gay couple?"

Most of the class laughed at this, but one boy in the back, a tall blond with a rather frightening expression, coughed once and raised his hand. "I can be with m' wife," he said, speaking in clipped tones.

A shorter boy from the front called back, "Berwald! I told you, I'm not your wife!"

The class laughed again, a couple of kids sending out wolf-whistles and cat-calls. Even Ms. Pond chuckled. "Tino? Berwald? Are you guys okay with being partnered up?"

Tino nodded, his face tinged with pink, and Ms. Pond wrote something down on a pad of paper. "Okay, Tino and Berwald…go and stand in the back of the room with your partner after you've been assigned. The rest of you, write your names down on slips of paper and bring them up here. Boys go on the left, girls on the right, and I'll pick out the couples, okay? Let's get to it, class!"

Felicia reached into her book bag and pulled out a spiral-bound notebook. Glancing around, she saw the other students tearing off little pieces of paper, writing their names down, and folding them in half; she quickly followed their example, writing Felicia D. Vargas with a flourish and taking the slip up to the front of the room, dropping into the bowl on the right.

Once everyone had put their names in and were all seated once again, Ms. Pond reached into the left-hand bowl. She unfolded the slip. "Carlos Garcia," she read, and Felicia saw the dark-skinned boy beside her sit up straighter. The teacher then pulled a name from the right-hand bowl. "And Michelle Seyers. You two will be partners, so go stand in the back of the room.

Carlos grinned as he gathered up his things and headed to the back, which was actually a large, multi-station kitchen area. Felicia decided that Carlos must really like this Michelle girl.

She watched the reactions of the students as they were paired off. Some of them seemed ecstatic; some of them were disappointed, even angry. Soon, only four students still sat in the desks, waiting to be called.

"Next is…Ludwig Beilschmidt!" announced the teacher, and Felicia turned to smile at him. He simply stared straight ahead, waiting to hear who his "wife" would be. "And…ah, Felicia Vargas! Go stand with your partner, you two!"

Ludwig turned and glanced at Felicia, who was giving him a wide smile as she stood. He followed suit, and together they joined the others in the back.

"I can't believe we get to be partners!" she squealed happily. "I'm really glad, because I don't know anyone else in this class, and you seem really nice, and does this mean we can be friends~?"

"Erm…ja. I s-suppose that we can be friends. I wouldn't mind."

"Ve! This will be so fun!" And Felicia was back to bouncing on her toes, as she had been this morning.

"Alright, class, you can come and sit down now!" called Ms. Pond. "Sit with your partners, and I'll hand out the instruction packets. Each packet has some information about you: it will have an age, a career, a salary, and your personal expenses for the month. Your first assignment will be to combine your finances with your partner and plan out how to spend your money."

They sat together on the edge of the room, scooting their desks together as the other students had done. Ludwig glanced at his packet and nodded in satisfaction. He was a 28-year-old mechanic with a yearly salary of $28,814. That seemed appropriate.

Meanwhile, Felicia was giggling beside him. "Look, Ludwig, look! It says I'm a 45-year-old door-to-door salesperson who makes $18, 604 a year! Ve~! And look at the expenses! I'm a smoker and a drinker!" She laughed again, and then glanced at his. "You're only 28? Hee hee, I'm a cougar!"

Ludwig placed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.

* * *

Matthew hated PE. He was uncoordinated everywhere but on the ice, he was always picked last for whatever game they were playing that day, and Alfred, when he wasn't ogling the British chick, was constantly pestering him. He sighed as he tied his shoelace, making sure they wouldn't come undone and trip him (again). Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he glanced behind him.

"Hey, you left your wallet in the cafeteria this morning," said the pale youth, extending the red-and-white wallet to him.

"Oh, thanks, Gil." He took and opened it, frowning as he counted his bills. "Gilbert…" he growled, glaring up at him. "I know for a fact that I had twenty-five dollars in here this morning, and now I only have fifteen. Explain."

"Kesesese!" he let out a strange laugh, half hiss and half chuckle. "I just helped myself to my finder's fee! Look at it this way, Mattie! I could've taken all of it, or just left it there for some other jerk to swipe! But nope! I'm too awesome for that!" He laughed again.

Tucking his wallet into his locker and standing, Matthew grumbled, "Yeah, well you'd better buy me lunch today to make up for it." He folded his arms across his chest and glared at him half-heartedly.

Gilbert reached over and ruffled his hair with another hiss-chuckle. "Of course, Mattie! You're my liebling after all, aren't you?"

As the two left the locker room for the gym, Matthew said, "One of these days, you're actually going to have to tell me what the hell 'leebling' means, Gil."

"Kesesese!"

* * *

"Alright, the packet says that we have until class tomorrow to finish planning out our finances," Ludwig said as the two gathered their things for the next class. "We were able to get most of it done, but there are still one or two things we have to finish. Would it be possible for you to meet me in the library after school?"

"Well, my father will be expecting me to take the bus home with my sorella, but I'm sure that if I called him it would be okay!" She stood and smiled hopefully at him. "Um…I don't suppose you can tell me how to get to English II, can you?"

"Ah, yes. With Ms. Atwater, right? That is my next class, as well, so I will take you there." They walked out of the classroom together, with Felicia blabbering on about how it was really nice that they had at least two classes together, and that Ludwig was really nice and really tall, and that he reminded her of someone she knew, but she couldn't quite remember who. Also why was Ms. Atwater's classroom door covered in pictures of owls and how could a single classroom hold so many bookshelves as well as desks? It was amazing, we~!

And Ludwig simply smiled the small smile that had graced his face so often during the past hour and shook his head, puzzled by that strange feeling of familiarity welling up within him.

Meanwhile, in Chemistry class, Lovina was threatening her Russian lab partner that she was going to shove his pipe where the sun don't shine if he didn't stop telling her how to make various explosives out of common household chemicals. Strangely, it was the most enjoyable time she'd spent yet today.

* * *

**AN: This story is finally off of hiatus (for now)! Sorry about the HUGE wait. I could go on and on about why I ignored this for six months—I was busy, I had writer's block, etc., but I won't. Instead, I'll just give you an author's note and be done with it.**

**I'll be going over all the old chapters and attempting to correct the poor grammar and spelling, as well as removing the terrible "written accents" that I realize many people dislike. New chapters will be posted, as well, though the time between updates will vary.**

**All chapters will be re-uploaded; the first four chapters will be combined into two, since they are the "prologue chapters." Other chapters may be combined, as well, and author's notes will be kept to a minimum. **

**I'd like to go through and rewrite this whole thing, but I have neither the time nor the patience, so simply editing will have to do for now.**

**Again, I apologize for the long hiatus, and hope that things will get back on track soon. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi there, you must be Felicia Vargas, right?" The teacher looked up from her book and smiled at her, her short brown hair falling into her eyes.

"Si, that's me!" Felicia handed her the paper to sign. "I just moved here from Middleton with my big sister Lovina! And Ludwig and Alfred and Matthew have been really nice and are helping me find all my classes! Speaking of classes, what will we be doing today? I'm not very good at spelling or anything like that, but I like to read about romance and that kind of thing!" She rambled on as Ms. Atwater signed the paper and passed it over to her.

The teacher let out a good-natured laugh. "Slow down there, Felicia," she said teasingly. "I'm glad you're settling in okay. Why don't go sit in that empty seat beside Roderich." she pointed to a seat in the second row, between the brunette from earlier and another boy she didn't recognize, "We just started a book on Thursday last week, so it shouldn't take you too long to catch up." She fished around in her desk drawer until she found a ratty old paperback, which she handed to Felicia. "This is one of my personal favorites, _The Sea-Wolf_, by Jack London. And yes, it is indeed a romance."

Felicia grinned and thanked the teacher before going to sit beside Roderich. She introduced herself, but he simply _hmmph_ed and turned away. The other boy gave her a nod, though, and, looking around, she saw Ludwig in the first row, on the other side of the room, and Alfred in the back row, rolling up little pieces of paper and flicking them at the other students. On Roderich's other side was the girl from earlier, a brunette named Elizabeta. She didn't recognize anyone else.

The class passed quickly, and by the time the bell had once again rung, Felicia was only a few pages behind the rest of the class, and already starting to enjoy the book.

"Lunchtime!" Alfred threw an arm around her shoulder as she stood. "You wanna hang out with some of my friends in the cafeteria? The school's got hamburgers today!" He punched the air victoriously. "I mean, they're definitely not as good as McDonald's, but hey! There's no way you can screw up a burger, right?"

"Ve~! Of course I'll eat lunch with you! Oh, but I have to talk to Ludwig first!" She ducked under her friend's arm and wove her way through the other students (she was getting much better at that, she noticed) toward him. "Hi, Luddy!" she said cheerfully, smoothing her skirt. "What are you doing for lunch? Alfred says I can sit with him, but do you want to come with us, too?" She looked up at him hopefully, but he shook his head.

"_Nein._ I-I mean no, thank you. I don't get along with many of Alfred's friends. I prefer to eat outside, alone, usually." He shrugged.

"Oh, okay…I could sit with you, if you wanted!"

"No, that's okay. Go and sit with Alfred. I think you will like his friends." He smiled at her, and then turned and walked off down the hallway.

Alfred watched him go with a frown. "I didn't know you knew Ludwig," he said, putting his arm around Felicia again and leading her toward the lunchroom.

"Si! We're partners in Home Ec.! I'm an alcoholic cougar, ve~!"

Alfred blinked at her. "Wha—oh, hey, Lars!" He slipped his hand off her shoulder and grabbed her hand, pulling her after some blond guy with tall, spiky hair. "Hey, dude, this is Felicia! She's new here, and I think she's Italian." They peered closely at her, scrutinizing her appearance. "You _are_ Italian, aren't you?"

She giggled, though she tried to break away from their stares. "Si, I moved to the States when I was four."

"Cool shit, man," Lars said with a nod. "I'm from the Netherlands. Moved here when I was seven." He stared at her for another moment—specifically, at her chest—before they continued on to the cafeteria.

The line was pretty short by the time they got there, and they quickly filled their Styrofoam trays with wimpy salad, soggy French fries, and overdone cheeseburgers. Alfred looked ecstatic about it, but Felicia glared at the food in disgust. Her old school had had much better food, and she fervently hoped that the cooks were simply having an off day today.

After paying for their food, they headed towards a mostly-full table, at which Feli could see Matthew, a very pale boy, and several other kids she recognized, but didn't know the names of. Setting her tray down, she was about to sit beside Matthew when she realized something.

"Ve! I need to find my sister!" She glanced apologetically at Matt. "Can you please watch my food? I'll be right back, I promise!"

He nodded, and she ran out of the room, taking off down the hallway and peering around corners. She was almost back to the music room, which was on the opposite end of the school, when she heard her voice.

"Stupid potato bastard! Look what you made me do! Now I have tomato sauce all over my brand new shirt, thanks to you! Why, when I—"

"Ve! Vina, I found you!" Felicia leaped at her sister, who was standing in the middle of another common area, surrounded by spilled food and standing next to—

"Oh, hi, Ludwig! I see you met _mia sorella_! Vina, this is Ludwig! He's in two of my classes and he's really nice! Oh, and we got married and I'm a cougar!" She laughed, still finding it hilarious almost two hours later.

"You _what_?" Lovina hissed, pulling her sister off of her and giving her a shove. She glared at Ludwig. "First you bump into me and spill my tomato sauce all over me, and then you force my sister into marriage? What the hell is wrong with you, bastard? You touch me or my little sister again, and I'm going to break your face! You got that, potato bastard?" Lovina was standing on her tip-toes, and her face was only inches from Ludwig's, her eyes fiery and her lips drawn into a snarl. Ludwig swallowed and nodded, wondering how the hell he'd gotten himself into this kind of situation.

Felicia grabbed her sister around the waist and pulled on her, burying her face in her back. "No, Vina, no! Don't kill Luddy! He's really nice and if you kill him I won't have a partner in Home Ec. and I'm sure he's sorry about your tomato sauce and I'll buy you some more if you want and I have a hoodie in my locker that you can wear to cover the stain and just please don't kill him, Vina!"

Lovina huffed and backed off, pulling her sister off of her and making her stand up straight. "Fine, fine! I won't hurt him. _Yet._ Now go get me that hoodie, because I can't walk around for the rest of the day with this big-ass tomato stain on my shirt." She glared at Ludwig again, who simply stared back at her, astounded.

"Erm…I'm going to go and sit down now. Er…I will see you after school, Felicia." He turned and left the common area with his tray of food, namely a baked potato, heading out a set of double-doors and into the sunlight outside.

"Yeah, you'd better run, bastard!" Lovina shouted after him as Felicia tugged her toward their lockers. "Wait…what was that about you seeing him after school?"

"Oh, we have to do some work for Home Ec.!" Felicia opened her locker and pulled out a light blue hoodie, handing it to her sister. "I'm sure it will only take a few minutes, and then daddy can come and pick me up! Now come on, let's go eat lunch!"

Lovina pulled on the hoodie, grumbling, and Felicia grabbed her arm to take her to the lunchroom.

"Hey, Feli, you're back!" Alfred greeted them. Felicia grinned and sat next to Matt, and Lovina slid in across from her with her own hamburger.

"Stupid potato bastard," she said again, bemoaning the loss of her beautiful lunch.

"Okay, INTRODUCTION TIME!" Alfred stood up on his bench and gestured to the girls. "Everyone, this is Feli and Lovina! They're new here, and—" he paused dramatically, "—they're _Italian_."

The group looked to them with interest, but before they could say anything, Lovina growled, "Bastards." She took a bite of her cheeseburger and gagged. "What is this crappola?" she cried. "It's freaking disgusting, it's like burnt dirt on a bun made of pine needles and sewage! I think its nasty flavor is raping my taste buds or something!"

"Hey, you can't just insult a _hamburger_ like that and get away with it!" shouted Alfred, glaring accusingly at her. Matthew sighed and rolled his eyes, and the silver-haired boy across from him let out a hiss-like chuckle.

"Well I just did, _hamburger bastard!_" Vina stood up from her spot and stalked over to the boy.

"Vina, no!" Felicia grabbed her sister again, stopping her in her tracks. "Vina, just sit down and eat the salad and I'll make you pasta when I get home later and I'll put lots of tomatoes in it just like you like it!" Lovina got a thoughtful look on her face, and she sat down again with a low grumble.

"They better be some freaking amazing tomatoes," she said, violently stabbing a cucumber slice with her fork.

Beside her, the pale, silver-haired boy elbowed her. "Hey," he said with a smirk. "I'm Gilbert the Awesome."

She leveled a glare at him. "You sound like that bastard with the potatoes in the hallway.'

"Vina~! Be nice! And stop calling everyone…_the b-word_." Felicia lowered her voice, and then continued, "Especially Ludwig and Alfred! You need to stop being so mean, because it's really hard to make friends if you're not nice to them!"

"Feli, you're 16 years old. Just say 'bastard,' okay?"

"But it's a bad word!"

"Quit acting like you're seven!"

"Hey," Gilbert cut in. "Did you say something about Ludwig?"

"Si! He's in my Home Ec. and English classes, and he's really nice! I think that we're going to be friends, too!"

"_Damn potato bastard._"

"Kesesese! Luddy's my little brother!"

The conversation continued for a few minutes more before the bell rang and everyone ran around frantically, gathering up their trash and saying goodbye to friends as they got ready for class. Felicia sighed, gazing at her barely-touched tray. She doubted she would be getting anything else until she arrived back home. Her stomach growled at her, but she simply stood and threw her meal in the trash can, unable to bring herself to eat the disgusting food.

"Hey, Feli!" Alfred bounced up to her. "D'you need help getting to your next class? You have art, right? I can take you there, if you want!"

"Oh, no, that's okay! Vina says that she can take me, because she had it earlier! Ve~! _Mia_ _sorella_ says that the teacher is really nice!" She turned toward said _sorella, _who was standing by the door and tapping her foot impatiently. "I'm coming, Vina! Bye, Alfred! Bye, Matthew! Bye, Gilbert!"

* * *

Art was over far too soon for Felicia, who had spent her class time sketching rough portraits of her new friends. It would have been easier if she had had them to model for her, but she had a very good memory when it came to faces.

Ms. Gray, the art instructor, had glanced at the pictures and deemed them acceptable with a curt nod. Felicia was pleased; she loved to draw and paint.

Sixth period was Biology, and Ms. Gray gave her directions to the class. She thanked her and left quickly, pausing once again to admire the wolves high on the wall. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, and she fumbled her sketchbook and binder, spilling them to the floor. She knelt to pick them up, but a foot kicked her sketchbook out of her reach. She looked up, confused.

A blond boy with chin-length hair was staring back at her, laughing. She allowed herself a small smile. "Oh…hello," she said. "I'm sorry I ran into you!" Maybe if she apologized for the incident, it would appease him…

The boy smirked. "Girl, you _better_ be sorry. I think you got _dirt_ on my brand new jacket!" He pointed at a nonexistent spot on the sleeve of his pale pink jacket and brushed at it. "But, like, what would I expect from a _country bumpkin_ like you, hmmm?"

Felicia felt her brow furrow. "I—"

The boy waved her off. "Just stay out of my territory, 'kay? I'm the coolest one in this school, and I totally don't need some little farm-girl brat getting in my way." He huffed and walked off, followed by several other students, giggling at Felicia as they left.

She gathered her things quickly, confused by the whole thing. Who was that guy? And why was he calling her a "farm girl"? She'd never lived on a farm! Sure, Middleton was primarily a farming community, but even Silverville had a high percentage of farms and ranches. And how was she encroaching on his territory? It was only her first day here, and she certainly wasn't aiming for popularity—just some close friends. She shook herself and smiled. It probably wasn't a big deal; certainly nothing to get all worked up over!

"Ah, you must be my new student! Felicia, right?" A large…_rotund_ bald man stood and greeted her as she entered the classroom. She giggled.

"Si! And you are my Biology teacher, aren't you?"

"Yup, I'm Mr. Blanchard! Let's see…why don't you go and sit by Matthew in the back, there?" He pointed to a table in the back corner, at which Matthew sat.

"Oh, okay! Matthew's my friend, so he can help me if I get stuck, right?" She grinned at Mr. Blanchard as he handed her a Biology textbook and a green folder, explaining to her that all work was to be done in class, unless she was told otherwise, and all assignments were to be kept in the folder and turned in at the end of class. She nodded and skipped over to Matthew.

They greeted each other, and Matt showed her what they were doing in class that day, and then the two worked quietly for a while. However, the incident in the hallways kept niggling at her, and so finally she turned to him.

"Mattie? Do you know who the boy with the long blond hair and the green eyes is?"

He thought for a moment. "Talks like a valley girl? Probably wearing pink?" At her nod—yes, that was him—he rolled his eyes. "That's Feliks. F-E-L-I-K-S, in case he asks you. Let me guess; he tripped you in the hall and gave you a 'little talking-to'?" He added air quotes around the words.

"No, he didn't trip me—he just bumped into me a little and made me drop my things. And he called me a farm girl, which I didn't really get…" She frowned again, still puzzling over it.

"Just ignore him. He does that to pretty much any new kid with the potential of being popular. He's basically the leader of all the preps here at school. Lemmings," he added under his breath.

Felicia brightened. "Oh, I see! Thank you for telling me, Mattie~!" She looked up and scanned the classroom. "Ve! I didn't see Ludwig when I came in!"

Following her gaze, Matthew saw the tall blond boy in one of the middle rows, concentrating on his Bio. "Yeah, he's actually one of the best students in the class, since Mr. Blanchard only gives us work from the book. If he didn't, I don't think half the kids in here would be passing." He chuckled.

A thought occurred to Feli suddenly. "Hey, Mattie? You and Alfred are twins, right?"

He shook his head. "No, we're cousins, actually. But we both look similar to our mothers, and _they_ were twins." He bent back to the task at hand, identifying different types of bacteria on a printout.

"Ve? But I thought that you two were brothers! Isn't that what you said on the bus?"

"Well, his parents adopted me when I was six. My parents died in a car crash that year."

"Oh!" she covered her mouth quickly. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

He looked at her over his glasses and snorted. "How could you have? You only met me this morning."

She giggled nervously. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that!" She got back to work, noting happily that the book's picture of E. coli looked like a fancy blue pinwheel spinning in a breeze.

* * *

"Why do I have to take Spanish? I can translate the whole freaking dictionary into Spanish, dammit!" Lovina grumbled to herself as she walked into the Spanish classroom. The teacher, a slender, balding man, smiled at her.

"Hola! You must be Ms. Vargas! _Mi nombre es Senor _Wall!" He leaned closer to her and whispered, "_Do you know what that means?_"

She backed away from him and snarled. "_Significa que eres un hijo de puta de mierda que hace preguntas estúpidas! Bastardo!" _

He stared at her, mouth open slightly.

"Now, do we have a seating chart, or can I just sit wherever?" Lovina shifted her binder to her other arm, and the teacher, still in shock, shook his head. She gave a curt nod and scanned the room, spotting a table with only a single occupant. She hurried over to it and tossed her bag on the floor, sliding into the seat kitty-corner to the boy's.

The boy turned to her with a wide grin. "_Hola, chica_!" he said with an obvious Spanish accent. "I'm Antonio! Who're you?"

"Lovina. Now screw off."

He laughed and shook his head. "That's a pretty name." He looked at her closer, his green eyes twinkling. "And I can't believe you cussed out Senor Wall! That wasn't very nice, you know~!" He tried to give a disapproving frown, but Lovina could see that the mischievous glint hadn't left his eyes.

"Shut up, bastard." She turned away from him so that he wouldn't see her smile.

* * *

"Ah, you have World History next?" Matthew handed the schedule back to Felicia. "So do I. C'mon, it's just down the hall."

"Okay! Let me talk to Ludwig really quick, though!" Felicia grabbed her books and binder—her load was starting to get heavy, and she hadn't had a chance to drop her things in her locker yet—and ran up to Ludwig before he left. "Ludwig! Hi! I just wanted to make sure we were still going to meet in the library later! Oh, and to apologize for my sister again. She can be kind of mean sometimes, but she doesn't really mean it!" She smiled pleasantly at him.

"Er…ja. The library. Und don't worry about it. I'm just glad I don't have to put up with her every day…" he sighed. "Though I wouldn't really mind trading my brother for her, actually..."

"Oh, Gilbert! He seemed very nice! Why don't you like him? Ve~! He let me pet the little chick he snuck in, too!"

Ludwig's eyebrow twitched. "What? He brought that thing to school again? Oh, never mind…I'll deal with him later. I don't want to be late for class." He turned to leave, but paused in the doorway and turned to her. "See you after school, Felicia."

"Byeee, Luddy!"

Matthew, who had been standing a respectful distance away, now stood beside her. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the teacher."

The World History classroom was only two doors down from Bio, so there weren't many kids to dodge on their way there. Felicia grinned when she stepped inside; the walls had been painted over with scenes and famous figures from history. On one wall, a battle was fought between two armies of medieval knights, rain pouring down on them. On another, a group of people were hard at work, building the Great Pyramids of Giza. A third wall featured portraits of famous royalty from around the world, at different points in time. They were all very detailed, and startlingly beautiful.

She'd been gazing at the walls long enough that she hadn't realized that she was being spoken to. "Oh!" she said, turning to the tall lady. "I'm sorry, Mrs.…" she sneakily glanced at her schedule, "Beauchamp." She said it as "Byoochamp."

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "It's pronounced 'Boh-shaw.' It's French." She grinned at her. "Now, why don't you go sit in the front row, there, in front of Gilbert?" She pointed, and Felicia followed her gesture, waving to the boy. She pursed her lips when she noticed that he appeared to be upset about something, glaring across the room at someone or something.

It was Roderich, she saw. He was staring angrily at the brunet, who had a hand on the chestnut-haired girl's arm, and was smiling sweetly at her. Felicia was about to ask why Gilbert was doing such a thing when she noticed her sister walk in.

"Vina~!" she cried happily. She'd nearly forgotten that they would be sharing their last class together.

Lovina rolled her eyes and turned to the teacher, talking for a moment before going to sit in the back row, in between the warring knights.

Felicia turned her attention back to Gilbert, who was now chatting animatedly with Matt to his left.

"Can you believe my dad's still mad about that? Kesesese! Every time something reminds him of it, he gives me this glare like you wouldn't believe!"

"Well, maybe next time you'll think twice about stealing all his booze and throwing a freaking German sparkle party in his basement." Matthew rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "I swear, you're worse than Alfred half the time."

"Kesesese! But you love me anyway! Right, BFF?" Gilbert leaned over and noogied Matthew, who swore under his breath and slapped at him. Felicia giggled.

Class centered around Europe's Middle Ages, particularly in England, and soon the students were getting restless, sneakily closing their textbooks and sliding their notebooks and binders into their bags. Mrs. Beauchamp was forced to interrupt class several times to warn certain disruptive students that they would have plenty of time to gather their things after the bell had rung.

Finally, it did so, and the room was momentarily filled with the sounds of books slamming closed, zippers grinding together, chairs banging into desks, and the excited jabber of the students before they quickly evacuated the room.

Matthew stayed behind for a moment; did Felicia need help getting anywhere? No, she was fine. She was just going to stop by the office to drop off her papers, and then she was going to meet Ludwig in the library before she went home. Matthew nodded. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then, eh?"

"Si! It was very nice to meet you today, Matthew! Tell Alfred and Gilbert goodbye for me, too, okay?" The two parted ways, Matthew chasing after Gil before he could slap the "Kick Me" sign on Roderich's back. She laughed as Matt snatched the sign and stuck it on Gilbert's back instead, and the tussle that ensued soon after. They were obviously very close, and she was glad to see it.

* * *

Vina grumbled as she climbed on the bus after school, flopping into a seat and pulling out her Calculus homework with a groan. Why did she have to take that stupid class, anyway? In Middleton, they were only required to have three Math credits in order to graduate, and she'd thought that it would be the same in Silverville; evidently, it was not, and she would have to pass this course to be able to graduate in June.

She glanced up when someone slid into the seat across from her. "Antonio?"

The dark-haired boy grinned at her. "Hola, chica!" he said again. "I didn't know you rode my bus! Where do you live?"

"None of your business, bastard. I don't need you stalking me." She turned back to her homework, glaring at the first problem as though hoping it would solve itself.

He chuckled lightly, and then suddenly ducked behind the seat, sliding to the floor. She gave him her best "WTF" look, and he held a finger to his lips. "Eating isn't allowed on the bus, and I had to skip lunch because Dance Team had a meeting, so I'm starving." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small Tupperware container and a plastic fork. He opened it to reveal a mess of Spanish rice, with plenty of tomatoes. Her mouth watered.

He was about to take a bite when he noticed her staring at him…or rather, at his food. He grinned. "Awww, does Lovi want some Spanish rice~?" he asked teasingly, waving the dish around. "I have another fork, if you want to join me~!"

"Don't call me that, bastard!" she said automatically. She frowned, weighing her options. She hadn't really had much to eat during lunch, since that potato bastard had knocked it to the ground, and tomatoes were her favorite food. But…she had only met this guy a couple of hours ago, and he really got on her nerves: he was too upbeat and happy, too much like her sister was. On the other hand…tomatoes.

She closed her textbook with a sigh and set it aside, sliding into his seat and dropping to the floor beside him before the bus could start moving. She grabbed the fork he offered her with a glare and took a bite. "Don't get any ideas, idiota. I'm just doing this for the tomatoes." The absolutely delicious tomatoes…the absolutely wonderful Spanish rice…with tomatoes.… She gave him another glare. "It's gross," she said. "But I'm starving." She took another bite.

"Of course, chica! Whatever you say!"

* * *

Feli had apparently beaten Ludwig to the library, so she took the opportunity to look around.

The room itself was large and open, with bookshelves stretching up high. She wouldn't even be able to reach the top two shelves without assistance.

She walked over to the fiction section and perused the romance shelf while she waited. They had the typical teen romances: Breaking Beautiful; Twilight; Hush, Hush; but they also had several of those that you typically see in the checkout line of the grocery store, those with the risqué covers feature scantily-clad, buff men with ladies wearing long, flowing clothes draped across them. Giggling quietly to herself, she pulled one from the shelf. Love's Secret Sniper, it was called. On the cover, a tall, shirtless man with a broad, tanned chest stood, holding onto a rope, which she assumed was connected to the sail of a ship. A woman stood behind him in a pink, flowing dress, her hands caressing his chest as he held onto one of her legs, which was wrapped around his waist.

Laughing at how ridiculous it looked, she didn't notice when Ludwig entered and walked up behind her. "Sorry I'm late," he said, setting his books on a nearby table. "I had to run from my Mechanics class to my locker, and they are across the school from one another…" He glanced at the book in her hands and blushed lightly. Was that…did Felicia read those types of books? He'd thought her innocent and naïve, but obviously she wasn't if she spent her days reading that trash.

"Oh, it's okay, Ludwig! I was just looking at the books. Ve! Look at this one! The covers always look so silly~!" she giggled again and slid it onto the shelf. "I don't know why anyone would read them!"

Ludwig felt himself relax. Oh, she was just laughing at the cover…well, she wasn't wrong about how silly they looked, with the women fawning all over the men and swooning in their arms. "Er, yes. Anyway, we should finish our work now. Here, let's sit at this table. It really shouldn't take more than twenty minutes to finish."

* * *

They were done in fifteen, and while Felicia was calling her father to come and pick her up, Ludwig studied the girl. Her auburn hair was pulled into a tight ponytail high on her head, and only a single stray curl had escaped it. She was shorter than most of the other girls in school, but she stood straight, not slouching, as the others tended to do. She is very pretty, Ludwig thought, turning his eyes toward the library door.

"Okay, Daddy says he'll be here soon! The school bus just dropped Lovina off, so he'll be here in ten minutes!" Felicia tucked her cell phone into the pocket of her skirt and gave him a scrutinizing look.

"…What are you doing?" he asked, when it became clear that she was not going to look away any time soon.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking that you should model for me sometime! You have a very interesting face, and I would love to draw it!"

His brow furrowed. "Why would you want to draw me?"

She picked her sketchbook up from the tabletop and flipped it open, turning it toward him. "I draw all my friends, see? But without being able to look at them when I do, it's a little difficult…" She looked from the small sketch of Ludwig, crowded by those of Alfred, Gilbert, and Matthew, to the real thing. "Hmm…I got your nose and your jaw wrong…oh, and your eyes. Eyes are especially difficult to get right without a model!"

He blinked his eyes in surprise. "…May I see that?" He held his hand out, and she eagerly passed him the book. "These are…very good," he said in surprise. "That one looks almost exactly like Gil. This is amazing!"

She smiled and blushed as she took it back, closing it and folding her arms over it. "Grazie, Luddy! I love to paint and draw! I want to be an artist when I graduate." She glanced back up at him. "What about you? What do you want to be?"

He turned his gaze back to the door, through which the school parking lot could be seen. "I want to be an engineer. I prefer to work with my hands, and most things mechanical come very easily to me."

"I'm sure you'll be a great engineer one day, Luddy! I—oh!" she pointed outside, where a bright red sports car had pulled up to the curb. "That's my father! I have to go now. Oh! Did you need a ride home? It wouldn't be a problem if you did, and you can meet Daddy, he tells the funniest stories!" She paused, frowning. "But I don't always understand them, and when I ask, he just laughs and says I'll understand when I'm older…"

"Um, I see. Er, no, that's alright. I live close to the school, so I can just walk." Ludwig gathered his things, too, and they left the school together.

"Ve~! Goodbye, Luddy! I'll see you tomorrow!" She waved to him as she climbed into the car and planted a kiss on her father's cheek. "Hi, Daddy! I had fun at school today! I made lots of friends, and I found out that I'm an alcoholic cougar~!"

Her father chuckled and put an arm around his daughter. "That's my girl! You take after your old man, don'tcha? You know, this reminds me of a time when I was a young man! There was this cute little Greek girl in my History class, you see, and one day we…"

* * *

**AN: I'm not sure how FF's going to do this, so I'll add an AN here, as well. **

**If you're a returning reader curious as to why chapters are being deleted and re-uploaded, please refer to the author's note at the end of the previous chapter. Thank you! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"_Ninna nanna a sette e venti,_

_il bambino s'addormenti._

_s'addormenta e fa un bel sonno_

_e si sveglia domani a giorno._

_Nanna ieri, nanna ieri_

_e le sporte non son panieri_

_e i panieri non son le sporte_

_e la vita non è la morte_

_e la morte non è la vita._

_La canzone l'è già finita."_

As Felicia finished her song, she bowed her head and closed her eyes to signify its end. Her classmates clapped and cheered for her, and when she opened her eyes and lifted her head, she saw Matthew and Alice grinning at her from amongst the other flute players. She smiled back, pleased that they had enjoyed her singing. It was an Italian lullaby her mother had sung to her as a child, and it was one of her favorite songs.

Mr. Jones was grinning hugely. "That was wonderful, Felicia. I take it, then, that that's the song you've chosen to sing at the concert?"

"Si! I know it's a little short, but it's fun for me to sing, and I think that everyone will like it! Is that okay, Mr. Jones? Or do you want me to pick something else?"

"Oh, no, it's perfectly fine! I think that the audience will like it very much, especially since we don't get the chance to hear live Italian music here in Silverville very often. If you'd like, you can choose another short song to sing, as well."

"Oh, okay! I'll get started on it right away!" Feli ambled back to her seat with the other singers, below and to the left of the flutists. She sat between two girls: a tall, gangly girl with a long braid of blond hair trailing down her back, and the brunette with the pretty, wavy hair, who, Felicia had learned, was named Elizabeta. Eliza smiled at Feli and patted her knee before glancing over at her boyfriend, Roderich.

The concert was going to be on Sunday evening, and, this being Thursday, everyone was putting finishing touches on their performances. Normally, Felicia wouldn't be allowed to perform on such late notice, but she had so impressed the teacher on Monday that he had allowed her to. Felicia had never sung in a concert before! She'd sung for her father and sister, and for a talent show, once, but this was different. It was much more exciting!

She'd become used to the school quicker than she'd believed possible. She knew the layout of the school now (she'd become a little lost going from the cafeteria to Chorus yesterday morning, but she'd managed to get there before the bell had rung), and she had at least one friend in each of her classes, to whom she could talk if she needed any help. Honestly, though she'd been excited to make new friends at this school, she'd been worried that she wouldn't be able to, that she'd be stuck forever as "that new weird girl" or something. But (almost) everyone here was really nice! She'd had a couple of run-ins with that Feliks guy, but nothing had happened except he'd insulted her clothes and called her "farm girl." It was nothing she couldn't handle.

"Alright, then. I think I've got just about everyone down. We just need Felicia's second song, and Ethan, Keith, and Lindsey still need to choose whether they want to play their instruments or sing." He glanced up at the class from his concert schedule. "I need to know by the beginning of class tomorrow, so be ready. You can go ahead and chat for the last few minutes of class, since there's not enough time to do anything else."

The room filled with sound almost immediately, and Feli turned to say something to Eliza, only to find that she had already jumped up and was sitting by Roderich at the piano. She shrugged and instead climbed up to Matthew and Alice. "I'm so excited for this!" she exclaimed happily. "It's going to be so much fun!"

Alice smiled just slightly. "I hope so," she said in a thick British accent. "My family is coming, and I don't want to disappoint them."

"I'm sure you won't! You play so beautifully! You too, Matthew!"

He laughed. "Yeah, sure I do," he grinned. "Al's always teasing me about how I sound like a dying elephant when I play, and he says that my 'girly flute-thing' is the reason I don't have a girlfriend." He shook his head with a chuckle.

Alice snorted. "What does that git know? He wouldn't know musical talent if it climbed in his mouth and danced around in that bottomless pit he calls a stomach."

"That's the truth! You should hear him try and play that old guitar of his. Talk about dying animals." Matthew rolled his eyes and then turned back to Feli. "Oh, hey. You and Ludwig have to cook in Home Ec. today, don't you? Do you know what you're going to make?"

Felicia, who had been a bit concerned with all the teasing going on, brightened quickly. "Oh, si! Ms. Pond said that she had all the ingredients we would need, so we're going to make some alfredo! It's my father's favorite pasta, and Ludwig said he'd never had it, so it'll be fun!"

* * *

"Would you kindly stop staring at me? Concentrate on your work, git!" Alice threw a ball of paper at Alfred, who barely managed to duck beneath it in time.

He stammered something about being sorry, and that he was just staring at her eyebrows—INTO SPACE! He was just staring off into space, not at her eyebrows, into space, and there was really no need to stab him in the knee with a pencil, he was going to do his work now. He bent back over his Geometry textbook, his face flushed.

Alice shook her head, her ringlets falling across her back, and went back to work, too. Behind her, Felicia simply grinned.

* * *

Felicia flounced happily to the cooking station she and Ludwig had been assigned to. "Have you really never had alfredo?" she asked, filling one of the pots with water and setting it on the stove.

Ludwig shook his head. "No, we mostly have German food at my house. Things like wurst, you know?" Following her instructions, he began to cut up a section of chicken.

"Oh." she wrinkled her nose. "I've had wurst before. It's…definitely not one of my favorite foods." She giggled.

"Hm. I really like it, though."

"Well, if you like it, then that's fine! But you'll _really_ like this pasta! Daddy says that I make the best Italian pasta in America! Ve! Maybe I'll be a pasta chef when I grow up!"

"I thought you wanted to be an artist?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why I can't be both! I could have a little Italian restaurant where I served pasta all day long, and then, when I got home, I could draw and paint! It would be lots of fun~!" She glanced at his work and shook her head. "No, no, you're cutting it too big! Like this, see?" She took the knife from him and showed him how big to make the pieces, and then she started the sauce, humming to herself as she poured some cream into the water.

"Shouldn't you measure that? You're going to ruin the recipe if you add too much of something!"

"It's not a problem. I know exactly how much I put in." She glanced up at him, and then added an extra pinch of parmesan cheese. He would probably like it best with more cheese. Hmm…and not as much tomato juice. He didn't seem like someone who liked tomatoes much. She added a little more cream, too.

She watched as Ludwig tossed the chicken into a pan to cook. "Oh!" she set the wooden spoon aside. "I almost forgot that I was supposed to talk to the principal this period!" She looked up at the clock; class was already half over, and she couldn't just leave Ludwig to make all the food by himself. "I'll be right back!" she decided. "I just need to ask Ms. Pond to call the principal and tell him I can't come until later! Oh, I hope he's not mad at me—just stir the sauce for a minute, okay? I'll be right back!" She hurried over to the teacher.

Ludwig stared into the pot of white sauce, and then glanced back at the chicken. He picked up the spoon and dipped it in, whipping it around like a whisk. It was starting to smell good. Very good, actually, and he felt his stomach rumble.

"I'm back! He said that it was okay. I can go see him during fifth period instead!" Felicia frowned at the pot of sauce. "Not like that, Ludwig! Like this!" She put her hand on Ludwig's much larger one and stilled his movements. "You have to stir it gently, like this." She guided his hand through the motions for a few moments before releasing it. "Yes, good! Just like that! Oh, I think the pasta's done!"

_"No, Lutz! The sauce will be bad if you do it like that! You have to stir it really slowly, round and round, like this!" _

He blinked. What was that? A memory…but a memory of what? From when? Ludwig shook his head to clear it, concentrating on the task at hand. It wouldn't do to ruin the sauce now, after Felicia had put so much work into it.

"Ve~! I think everything's done, Luddy! Here, let me taste the sauce!" She dipped her pinky into the sauce and licked it, closing her eyes. "Mmm…yep! It's all done! Okay, so now we just have to mix everything together! Here, I can do it, if you want!" Feli took the pot from him while he turned off the stove. The pasta had been drained and was sitting in a glass bowl at their station, the chicken already mixed in. She poured the sauce over it all, turning the bowl so that it fell evenly over the pasta. "And…there! We're all done! Can you get some forks and plates out? Ve…three! One for you, one for me, and one for Ms. Pond, right?" She smiled over her shoulder at him as she carried the bowl over to one of the tables in the center of the kitchen area.

He passed her the plates, and she carefully filled each of them with pasta, arranging it in some sort of intricate pattern, which she did quickly. She picked up one of the plates and a fork, and together they walked over to Ms. Pond's table.

"Ah, Felicia! First one done, hm? I hope it's as good as you've been saying it is!" Ms. Pond grinned mischievously at her as she was handed the plate of pasta. She twirled it around her fork—they'd been forced to use spaghetti noodles, instead of the flat fettuccine noodles Feli would normally have used—and speared a chunk of chicken. She popped it into her mouth and chewed.

And froze.

Ludwig and Felicia glanced nervously at each other. Was something wrong with it? They hadn't eaten any yet, but Feli was certain that there wasn't anything wrong with it… "M-ms. Pond? Is…is everything okay?"

The elderly teacher nodded, and looked up at the two. She swallowed the pasta. "Felicia, I'm not going to lie to you," she said, and Ludwig felt his heart drop. If Ms. Pond told her that she hated it, it would kill the girl. "This is the most delicious chicken alfredo I've ever had."

Felicia's expression went from deep concern to extreme happiness in less than a second. "Oh, do you really mean it, Ms. Pond? Yay! Thank you so much! Ludwig and I worked really hard on it, and my daddy and my sister are the only ones who've eaten my cooking before, and they said it was really good, and I thought it was really good, but I wasn't really sure, so I'm really glad you like it and—"

Ms. Pond cut her off with a laugh. "Yes, Feli. It's delicious. You two get an A." She gestured to the plate with her fork. "You have more, right? This isn't all you made?"

Feli shook her head. "Nope! We have enough for me and Ludwig, and some to take home, too!"

"Good." the teacher nodded approvingly. "In that case, I'm going to finish this myself. Great job, kids." She laughed and waved them off before returning to her pasta.

'Ve~! I'm so glad she liked it! Let's go and eat ours before it cools off!"

They sat at their table and lifted their forks. Ludwig was about to take a bite when he noticed Felicia watching him intently. "…What is it?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"Oh, nothing! I just want to see you when you take your first bite!" She giggled. "I want to see if you act like Ms. Pond did!"

Ludwig shook his head with a smile and took a bite. He chewed thoughtfully, and felt his smile widen. "It really is delicious," he said. "Maybe you should open that Italian restaurant after all." He took another bite.

"Ve~! I'm so glad you like it, too! I couldn't have done it without your help though, Luddy!" Felicia beamed at him as she set to work on her own plate, and Ludwig chuckled and shook his head, grateful for her lie.

* * *

"Hey, Al! Coming your way!" Matthew threw the Frisbee to him with a flick of his wrist and then took off down the field toward the opposite goal. Alfred caught the disk with a flying leap, and tossed it back to him, now that he was inside the opposing team's goal line. It seemed as though they would win, as Matthew stretched his arms out to catch it, when suddenly a massive weight struck him in the chest and sent him tumbling to the grass. "_Oof!_" he managed as the air was pushed from his lungs.

"Awww, Gil!" Alfred screamed, racing toward the two. "Tackling's illegal! We were gonna win and everything!" He raged on for a minute or so before finally realizing that maybe his brother was injured in some way. "Hey…you okay, Mattie?" He walked closer to them.

Matthew broke his gaze away from Gil's and shoved the heavier boy off of him. "I'm fine," he grumbled, attempting to wipe the mud and grass stains from his clothes.

"Kesesesese! You didn't even see it _comin'_, did ya Mattie?" Gilbert laughed as he too stood. "Man, I _love_ Ultimate Frisbee! It's the best game _ever_!"

Matthew glared at him. "Whatever, Gil. Now we have to make that pass again, and it'll probably fail this time because the Frisbee hates me."

The two teams returned to their positions, and once again Alfred threw the Frisbee to Matt. He reached up to grab it out of the air when he found it snatched away from him by a short blonde girl. Alice turned and threw the Frisbee to one of her teammates, and within a few minutes, the game was over.

Matthew growled in exasperation. Why couldn't they have gone to the ice rink instead of out to the field? If they'd been playing hockey, he'd have whipped all their butts with no problems. He glanced over at Gilbert, who grinned and waggled his eyebrows at him.

Oh, he was _soooo_ going to get it later.

* * *

**Felicia's song:**

_**Lullaby at twenty past seven,**_

_**The child falls asleep,**_

_**Falls asleep and has a good sleep,**_

_**And wakes up tomorrow at day-break.**_

_**Lullaby yesterday, lullaby yesterday,**_

_**Shopping bags are not baskets,**_

_**And baskets are not shopping bags,**_

_**Life is not death,**_

_**And death is not life.**_

_**The song is already finished.**_

**The song is called **_**Ninna nanna a sette e venti**_**, and it's a popular Italian lullaby.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Vina! Feli! Didn't you say you needed to be somewhere by four?" Their father's voice floated up the stairs and into their separate bedrooms.

Felicia started in her chair, quickly typing a good-bye message and exiting out of the IM chat she'd been having with Ludwig. It was 3:30, and she had to be at the school in half an hour for the concert's final rehearsal. She grabbed her dress from her closet and set to work tugging it on and making herself look presentable.

She was just finishing her hair (she had decided to leave it down for the concert, and it hung softly down her back—except for that one dratted curl) when Lovina walked in. "Ugh, I still don't see why I have to go to your stupid concert," she grumbled, folding her arms and leaning against the door. "It's not like you don't run around the house singing at the top of your lungs all the time, anyway."

Adjusting the straps of her golden-brown dress, Feli frowned at her sister. "But Vina, it's my first time singing in front of so many people! Even the talent show two years ago only had forty people in the audience! It would make me really happy if you were there for me!" Her frown melted into an excited smile.

"Whatever. Why do I have to be there for two extra hours with you then?" Lovina went downstairs without waiting for an answer, and Felicia smiled after her. She knew that Vina loved her, and was proud of her. It just wasn't in her nature to show her true feelings so easily, even around her family.

With one last look in the mirror, she grinned and followed her sister out of the room.

* * *

"Ah, Felicia! Right on time!" Mr. Jones greeted her when they arrived in the school's auditorium. "Go ahead and sit with the other vocalists for now, alright?" Felicia nodded and ran over to sit with her friends, and the teacher turned to Lovina. "And you must be her older sister Lovina, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "No shit, Sherlock."

Instead of getting angry like she thought he would, he simply laughed. "Yeah, I guess it's pretty obvious. Actually, if I didn't know that you were two years older, I'd swear you were twins."

Vina turned and walked over to the open seats, where a few people—friends and relatives of the students—were already sitting. She slid into the seat next to her father, who turned and said to her in Italian, "Look at your sister up there! She looks so cute, talking with her friends~! Aww, my sweet little baby~!"

"Dad," she replied in the same language, "Can't we just go do something and come back later? Why do we have to watch the same fucking thing _twice_?"

Her father fake-gasped. "But Vina~! We have to be here to support your sister! She would be heartbroken if she looked over and found out that we weren't—" he stopped suddenly, staring at someone across the room and swallowing. "Hrmmm….I just remembered that I have to do something before the concert starts! You stay here, and I'll be back later, okay? Okay. …Bye!" He stood and bolted from the room.

"_Bastardo_!" she shouted after him, causing the several other members of the audience to turn and glare at her. She flipped them off and glanced over at the person whom her father had been watching. It was a tall woman with bright red hair, leaning against the far wall and watching the rehearsal. She didn't seem familiar, but her father had a long history of promiscuity, so it wouldn't really surprise her if this was one of his exes. And from the looks of her, she was one of those "Don't-mess-with-me-if-you-don't-want-to-lose-an-i mportant-body-part" types. No wonder her father had fled.

She slumped down in her seat and dug her iPod out of her purse, setting the volume to max and closing her eyes, folding her arms across her stomach. Just because her stupid _sorella_ had forced her to come, that didn't mean she had to listen.

* * *

She was awakened a few hours later when her sister gently shook her shoulder. "Vina…! Vina…!"

She groaned and cracked her eyes open, glaring at her. "What?" she growled.

"Ve! It's almost time for the concert to start, so I thought I'd let you know!" Felicia beamed down at her, her hair frizzier and more tangled than it had been earlier. "Where's Daddy?"

"He saw one of his exes and ran off. He said he'd be back for the concert, though." Vina sat up and pulled a brush out of her purse. "Here," she said with a sigh. "I'll fix your hair for you, because I don't want to be known as the girl with the static-head sister or something."

"Oh, okay! Thank you, Vina!" She tugged at her hair as she sat beside her. "I didn't even realize that it looked so bad!"

"Just shut up and let me brush it," Lovina replied. She did so quickly and effectively, being sure to avoid pulling the brush too harshly through her hair and tugging at it. Both of the sisters had strange, embarrassing reactions to having their hair pulled, and they preferred to keep it _secret_, thank you very much.

When she had finished, Feli stood and turned to face her, beaming and radiating excitement. "_Grazie_, Lovina! I have to go now, but I'll see you later! Tell Daddy hi for me, too, okay?" She placed her hands on her older sister's shoulders and kissed her cheeks before turning and hurrying back to the stage.

Lovina sighed and grumbled again, leaning back in her seat. Realizing that her iPod was still on, she quickly shut it down and tucked it back into her purse.

"_Hola_, Lovi!" Antonio popped up from somewhere and plopped down into the seat beside her. "Your cute little sister is going to sing tonight, isn't she?"

"Ugh! Bastard, what are _you_ doing here?"

"I came with Gil! His friend Matthew is a flutist, and his 'arch nemesis' is playing the piano. I didn't really expect to see you here though, Lovi~!" Antonio grinned at her. "I didn't think you liked your sisterthat much, and I know you don't like big crowds of people, so—"

"Shut up, bastard!" Vina snapped at him. "My dad and my stupid sister dragged me here two hours ago, and I couldn't think of an excuse to get out of it." She turned away from him and mumbled, "And for your information, I love _mia sorella_. So shut up."

Antonio was silent for a moment before suddenly letting out a loud laugh. "Ah, _chica_, you're so funny and cute~!"

"Sh-shut up!"

They continued bickering as the auditorium filled with people, and Vina was so immersed in cursing the Spanish boy out in his native tongue that she barely noticed when her father slid back into his seat. "Lovina," he said. "Who's this? Is he your boyfriend?" he giggled childishly as his daughter reddened.

"Shut up, bas—Dad!" she cried. "This _idiota_ is _not_ my boyfriend!"

Antonio pouted. "Aw, but Lovi, don't you like me~?"

"No! Shut up! Aargh, you're all driving me _crazy!_"

"Who's crazy?" A fourth voice joined the fray, and they looked over just as Gilbert sat beside Antonio. "The little Italian girl? Kesesese, we already knew that, didn't we?"

"Why you—!"

A woman in front of them cut Lovina off, making a shushing motion with her hand. "Please settle down!" she said, though she was laughing. "You kids are almost as bad as I was in high school!"

Gilbert snorted. "Whatever, Ms. Atwater. There is _no way_ you were even _close_ to our level of awesomeness when _you _were a teenager!"

The English teacher cocked an eyebrow at them and smirked. "Oh, really?" she said. "Ever heard of the Incident of '02?"

Gilbert and Antonio's eyes widened. "No way," they said in unison. "That vas _you_?"

"What was her? What's the Incident of '02?"

"It was—Oh! The concert's starting!" Ms. Atwater turned back around in her seat, and the other four focused their attention on the stage. The lights in the auditorium dimmed as the lights onstage came on, revealing the high school band. Felicia and the other vocalists were nowhere in sight; they must've been backstage, waiting for their turn. Mr. Jones stepped forward and announced the name of the song (Lovina was too bored to care), and, with a light trill of the flutes, the concert began.

* * *

Two solid hours of instrumentals later, the curtain fell, and the lights came on in the auditorium, accompanied by the chatter of the crowd. Lovina sat up and rubbed her eyes with a yawn. Was the concert over? Had she missed her sister's performance? Vina had a brief moment of panic before she remembered that she didn't care. She turned to her father, who was currently flirting with Ms. Atwater.

"So, what do you say you and I go out for dinner after the concert, hmm? I can drop the girls off at home and then we can spend some quality time together~! How does that sound to you?" the man winked at her, grinning.

Ms. Atwater rolled her eyes. "Sorry," she said. "But I don't think my lesbian lover would like that very much."

Julius's eyes widened, and he sat back a little. "Oh," he said. "You—"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," the teacher said smugly. "You'll never find out." She twisted back around in her seat and started up a conversation with the blonde woman in front of her.

"Ah, but, _bella_ _signora, _I am actually very open-minded about—"

"DAD, STOP HITTING ON MY TEACHER." Lovina bopped him on the head with a glare. "Ugh, how much longer is this stupid concert gonna be? Can't we go home now?"

"Lovina, your sister's not up for almost another hour! We can't go yet!"

"Yeah, Lovi! Don't you want to hear your sister sing? I heard she's really good!" Antonio giggled beside her. He turned to Gil. "Isn't she going to sing something in Italian? I can't wait to hear her!"

This time, when the lights dimmed and the curtain came up, most of the band was gone, replaced by the school's several vocalists. They began with a full chorus, singing softly and slowly raising their voices. One by one, the voices dropped off, until only a single voice could be heard. A brunette girl stood, her beautiful voice carrying throughout the auditorium, and then she, too, fell silent, a haunting note hanging for just a moment longer.

Gilbert had visibly stiffened when the girl had initially stood, but only Antonio had noticed, and he gave his friend a sympathetic smile before turning back to the show. Gil felt his mouth turn down into a frown, and he forced himself to focus on Matthew instead, whom he could just barely see in the left wing. When the crowd began to cheer, he heard a specific voice above the others, and he glared at the male pianist. He knew he shouldn't be angry about it anymore; he and Elizabeta had broken up almost a year ago. He had no romantic interest in her anymore. But it still hurt, when he thought about it. It still hurt knowing that she had left him for his annoying, snobby cousin. How was _he_ better than the awesome Gilbert? He'd treated her nicely, taken her out to all her favorite places, given her gifts he knew she'd like. He'd…he'd _loved_ her.

And how had she thanked him? She'd taken his last gift to her, a charm bracelet he'd picked out himself, and tossed it in the trash, taking _his_ arm in hers and telling him to screw off. It had been the worst pain he'd ever felt. God! How it had hurt! He'd felt, in that moment, that his entire world was crashing down around him, and he'd been depressed for weeks. That had been a time in his life that he never wanted to experience again.

He shook himself out of his reverie, focusing again on Matthew. Mattie had been the one to snap him out of his depression, inviting him over a couple of times for pancakes and just to talk. He'd always be grateful to him. They were best friends, and, over the course of the year, he'd felt that friendship blossom into something more. He was in love with that adorable Canadian boy.

He tore his gaze away from the object of his affections and focused back on the stage, where only a single figure now stood. Felicia seemed nervous, but still she smiled, beaming out at the audience.

Lovina sat up a little straighter in the padded seat, unintentionally bumping Antonio with her elbow. Her sister looked beautiful up there: her hair shining, her smile widening, her figure petite and graceful. Of course, Felicia always looked beautiful. Lovina clenched her teeth as her sister opened her mouth and began to sing.

Roderich accompanied her on the piano, but her voice was what everyone was fixated on.

"_Stella, stellina,_

_La notte si avvicina._

_La fiamma traballa."_

The lyrics were silly, stupid even, but Lovina knew how much her sister loved the song. Its melody was sweet, its lyrics sung with a quiet passion. Felicia had such a beautiful voice…

"_La mucca nella stalla._

_La mucca e il vitello,_

_La pecora e l'agnello,_

_La chioccia con il pulcino,_

_Ognuno ha il suo bambino,_

_Ognuno ha la sua mamma,_

_E tutti fanno la nanna!"_

She repeated the last line, this time much more quietly, folding her hands together and laying her head on them, closing her eyes as though falling asleep. Lovina rolled her eyes at how cheesy it seemed, but the crowd loved it. Felicia had to wait a few moments for the applause to die down before she began her next song, this time accompanied by a violin. As the melody began, Lovina felt a sudden sense of longing wash over her. It had been far too long since she'd heard this lullaby; twelve years since she had last heard it, from her mother's lips.

Vina squeezed her eyes closed and covered her ears in an attempt to block out the song. But still it crept in, and she realized, for the first time, how similar her sister sounded to their deceased mother.

She felt her eyes burning behind her eyelids, but she shoved the tears away. It was a stupid reason to cry, and she knew it. Damn her sister! This was all her fault!

"Lovi_?_ Are you okay?" Beside her, Antonio had noticed her strange behavior. She opened her eyes and glanced over at him, and he saw that she was just on the verge of tears. "Oh, Lovina," he said softly, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her toward him. "What's wrong? It's okay, Lovina. Don't cry."

"I-I'm not crying, bastard!" she said, her voice shaking. She pushed him away and stood up. "I—I just need some air." She elbowed her way down the aisle, startling her father, who, noting that Felicia had finished her song and was taking a bow, hurried after her.

Behind them, Antonio sat in his seat, wondering whether he should go after her or give them both some space. In the end, he sat back in his chair to watch the finale, his mind fogged with confusion.

* * *

"Feli, that was absolutely brilliant!" Alice gave the girl a small hug as she made her way backstage. "You sang even more beautifully just now than you had in the classroom!"

"Yeah, it was really great!" The quieter Matthew smiled at her. "Did you hear all that applause? They loved you!"

Felicia beamed at them. "Do you really think so? Ve! I thought I fell a little flat on that last note, but if you think it was good, then I guess it was!" She pulled them both into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, you guys! You both played perfectly today, too! Ve~! I had so much fun~! Do you think Ludwig liked it?"

"I'm sure of it. I could see him from where I was standing, and he had a smile on throughout your entire performance."

"Oh, that's great! I really wanted him to hear me sing, but I was so worried I would mess up or something and he would hate it!"

"Dear, you underestimate your talent. I sincerely doubt you could 'mess up' a song if you tried."

"Hey, guys!" Elizabeta poked her head around the curtain. "I finished my last song, so it's time to come up and take a bow! Let's go!"

Taking her friends' hands, Feli excitedly tugged them back onstage with the others, and together, they gave one last bow to the cheering audience. As they straightened, Felicia turned her gaze to the spot where her father and sister had been sitting, and felt her smile freeze. Where had they gone? Hadn't they liked the performance? _Had_ she messed up in some way? Maybe now they were ashamed of her! She must have sung much worse than she'd been told…

She swallowed around the lump in her throat and forced the smile back into place. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with her singing. Maybe Vina had gotten sick…? She hoped not! That was even worse! She didn't want her sister to be in pain! Maybe they'd simply had to go to the bathroom…they _had _been sitting there for an awfully long time…

The curtains fell once again, and the students hurried to gather their things and go. Grabbing her purse and collecting the sheet music from James and Roderich, Felicia said goodbye to her friends and made her way to the door.

"Um, Felicia…"

She turned, fully knowing who the voice belonged to. "Ludwig!" she happily exclaimed, the worry over her family fading. "I'm so glad you came! Did you have fun? Did you like my songs?"

"I…enjoyed them very much," he said. "And…and this is for you!" He held out to her a single red rose, its petals drooping slightly and wrinkled around the edges. She took it happily.

"Thank you, Luddy! It's so pretty!" She raised the flower to her nose and inhaled. Its smell was fainter than it should have been, but it was still lovely.

"I was going to give it to you before the concert, as a good-luck charm," he said, looking away. "But I couldn't find you, so…"

She threw her arms around the taller boy and squeezed him. "It's okay, Luddy! I love it!" She released him and grinned up into his reddening face. "I have to go find my family now, but I'll see you tomorrow! Bye, Luddy, and thank you again!" She smiled and waved to him before hurrying out the doors and into the dark parking lot.

She could see her father's bright red car in the distance, parked under a street light, and she thought she saw two figures beside it. She tucked the sheet music into her purse and clutched the rose to her chest before making her way across the parking lot.

"Hey, country bumpkin!"

Felicia froze and turned toward the voice. Feliks stood behind her with two of his friends. His eyelids sparkled in the faint light, and she could see his eyebrows scrunching together. She forced the smile to her face once again and greeted him. "Oh, hi, Feliks! Did you like the concert?"

He snorted and stepped forward, cocking his hip and crossing his arms over his chest. "I did, actually. Until _you_ tried to deafen me with your hideous screeches." The girls behind him laughed, and he smirked. "It's kind of funny, though. I _totally_ thought I told you to stay out of my territory. Didn't I say that?"

Felicia nodded once, slowly. "Si. You did…"

"That's what I _thought_. Didn't you know that that meant to stay _out_ of the limelight?" He glared at her. "Because I'm pretty sure that you just took a _major_ leap into my territory tonight. And I am really not happy about that, farm girl."

"I—I'm sorry, Feliks. I didn't mean to…" How had she crossed into his territory by singing at the concert? He wasn't a vocalist. "I have to go now. Um, my family is waiting for me…" she turned to go, but Feliks suddenly snatched the rose from her hands.

"What's this? A present from your _boyfriend_?" he waved the wilting rose in her face, and she reached out to snatch it back. Laughing, he dropped the flower to the ground and stomped on it, using his heel to grind it into the pavement. "Don't mess with me anymore, farm girl," he said menacingly. "Or next time, it _won't_ be just a rose." With that, he and his lackeys turned and walked off into the night.

Felicia knelt on the rough pavement, not even caring when a sharp stone jabbed her in the knee. She reached down and scooped up the poor destroyed flower, cradling it in her hands. Blinking back her confused tears, she stood and headed for the car, unaware that she was being watched.

* * *

**English translation of "**_**Stella**_**, **_**Stellina**_**":**

_**Star, little star,**_

_**Night is approaching.**_

_**The flame flickers.**_

_**The cow in the barn,**_

_**The cow and the calf,**_

_**The ewe and the lamb,**_

_**The hen with the chick **_

_**Everyone has his child,**_

_**Everyone has his mother**_

_**And everyone went beddy-bye.**_

**It sounds really pretty when it's sung in Italian. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

The ride home from the concert was awkward, to say the least. Julius Vargas stared straight ahead as he drove through the darkness, focusing his attention on the road instead of on his two crying daughters. Lovina sat in the passenger seat beside him, her head turned toward the window as she tried to nonchalantly wipe away her tears, scowling and acting as though she had something in her eye. In the back seat, Felicia was staring at something cradled in her hands, tears trickling from the corners of her eyes, though she tried to act her usual, cheerful self.

Though his eldest hadn't told him anything when she'd abruptly left the concert, he had a sneaking suspicion that her current state had something to do with Feli's song. He remembered, of course, his _bella_ _moglie_, his beautiful wife, singing his girls to sleep with that song nearly every night, when they were small. When they had first moved here, when Feli was four and Vina was six, that song had comforted them so often…. He couldn't blame Vina for getting so emotional over the memory of her mother, really.

As for Felicia, he had no idea why she was so upset. She'd arrived at the car with a forced smile, and even as he'd hugged and congratulated her on her performance, her usual cheerful, bubbly self was gone. He'd asked her what was wrong, but she'd simply replied that Ve~! Nothing was wrong, and she'd had lots of fun, but she was very tired, so could they go home now?

Julius made one last turn and pulled into their driveway. No words were spoken as the two girls each opened their doors and went inside. He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. _Ah, Katarina. How I wish you were still here…our daughters need you. _I_ need you, _miabellezza…

* * *

The next week passed in a flurry of excitement. It was Spirit Week, and each day had a theme for the students to dress up for. Blast from the Past, Pajama Day, Color Wars (the Sophomores won, much to Feli's delight), International Day, and, finally, Spirit Day.

Felicia had somehow convinced her sister to dress up that Friday, and the two arrived at school wearing matching blue-and-silver (the school colors) outfits. Felicia had painted their lips and eyelids a shining silver, and their hair had streaks of blue. Lovina didn't seem too happy about her new look, but Felicia loved it.

* * *

Ludwig swallowed nervously when he saw Felicia in Home Ec. Maybe he shouldn't ask her…she would probably say "no," anyway, and she hadn't even mentioned anything about the rose since Sunday night…

"Hi, Luddy!" she said, sliding into her seat beside him. "I like your outfit~!" She gestured to his gray-and-blue sweater-vest and blue-dyed hair.

"Erm, thank you…. Listen, Felicia, there is something I wanted to ask you…." He fiddled with the papers in front of him, deciding that it would be best not to look at her. "Erm, would you…er, would you like to…?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry Ludwig, were you saying something?" He looked up and found that she had been doodling in the margins of her paper. "Would I like to what?" She smiled at him.

His mouth felt suddenly dry. "I—I—I," he looked back down at his worksheet and sighed. "Never mind, Felicia. Ve had better get started on our assignment."

"Okay! That sounds good!"

They worked diligently, carefully balancing their checkbooks—factoring in Felicia's need for cigarettes and beer, of course—and, despite Felicia's constant spacing, they finished quickly.

"I'll hand them in, Luddy!" she announced, bolting out of her seat and snatching up both their papers. She handed them to Ms. Pond, who was currently walking Tino and Berwald through a difficult problem. She looked up at the clock as she sat once more. "Look, Ludwig! We still have ten minutes of class yet! Hmm, I wonder what we're doing in English today. We're supposed to finish reading that chapter in class, right? Don't tell anyone, but I read a little ahead of where I was supposed to, because we were supposed to stop reading in such a bad spot! I really wanted to know what happened, so I read to the end of the chapter already…. Hey, Ludwig, are you going to go to the Homecoming dance tomorrow night?"

Ludwig sputtered. "W-well, um, I was thinking of going…" _With you_, he chose not to add.

She grinned. "I really hope you go! Vina and I are going to go together, even though she said she didn't want to, but I know she really does! If you go, then we can hang out for a little while! Are you going to take someone? Ve~! Maybe Katyusha or Bella? I think that Vina wanted Antonio to ask her, but she didn't say anything because she's really shy about that sort of thing." She grinned at him.

"I—um, er. Yes. Okay." It seemed she already had plans, then. So it was probably a good thing he hadn't asked her. She would definitely have said no.

Ludwig wasn't sure why he had become so interested in the petite Italian. He had never made friends easily: Since he had moved to Silverville in first grade, he had had only a handful of friends, which, sadly, included his brother and his brother's best friend, Antonio. He'd always been more or less alone in school, and at first it had been difficult on him, but he had grown used to it. It was how life was, and how life would always be, he had told himself.

And then this cheerful, perky girl had come bursting into his life, not even two full weeks ago, and he'd found himself opening up to her. It wasn't much, but it was still more than he'd managed countless other times. He felt so _drawn_ to her, in a way that he simply couldn't put into words. She was familiar to him, and yet he had known nothing about her. But she had broken down his walls so easily…. Was this simply friendship he felt toward her? Or was it something more? Ludwig had no idea; he had yet to experience much of either, yet.

And he _certainly_ wouldn't be going to his older brother for advice.

* * *

Alfred set his books on his desk with a loud _thwack-ump!_ and plopped into his seat. He laid his head on the pile of books and closed his eyes wearily. He'd spent all of Study Hall harassing and being harassed by the big Russian kid he was forced to sit next to, a creepy guy with a cheerful smile and malevolent eyes. He always carried around a pipe, too, and sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, he would swear he could see him _pet_ it. Like a _cat_ or some shit like that. That guy was weird as _hell_.

Someone tapped his shoulder, and he lifted his head, straightening his glasses. It was a girl who sat two desks in front of him. What was her name? Oh, yeah. Natalia. Creepy Ivan's sister. "I believe you are in my seat," she said in a thick Russian accent.

He blinked at her in confusion. "Um, I don't think so, dude. This is my seat. I've been sitting here since August."

Natalia glared at him. "Da, but we have a new seating chart today," she said, shifting her things to one arm so that she could point to the overhead projector. He followed her finger and saw that, indeed, they did have a new seating chart for Creative Writing. He bolted out of his seat and hastily picked up his books.

"Oh, sorry," he said, blushing just a bit. "Ah-ha-ha, I just wasn't looking when I sat, I guess!"

"Whatever.' she set her things down and, as he stepped closer to the board to see where he would be sitting, he heard her say something under her breath, which sounded like "Dibyoo" or "Jibloo." Probably some stupid Russian word.

Pushing his glasses up, Alfred peered at the seating chart, scanning the diagram for his name. Now, where was it…? Ah, there it was! He sat in the second row, in the desk closest to the door. He headed over and set his things down in his new seat, pulling out yesterday's assignment to finish it up. The assignment had been to write a short story focusing on a single theme, which had been randomly selected for them. Alfred had received the theme of "Hope," and so he had written a short tale of a knight who had lost all of his worldly things: His home, his horse, his servants, his money. But he had not given up hope that he would one day soon see his wife again, and that hope solidified when he discovered her gold necklace in a forest one night.

Alfred was debating whether to conclude the story with their reunion, or to leave the story open-ended, when he was interrupted.

"Oh," said a familiar voice. "It's _you_. Well, isn't this just _lovely_?"

He glanced up, his heart beating faster. Alice stood above him, her hands on her hips. She had set her books on the desk beside him, and she slid into the seat with a sigh. "Seeing as I sincerely doubt that Ms. Atwater would grant my request for a new seat, I suppose we'll have to make due. Just, _please_ don't distract me with your idiocy, alright? I consider this class to be of the utmost importance." She fell silent after that, and pulled out her own short story to finish.

"Uh. S-sure." Damn it! Never mind _his_ distracting _her_. How was he supposed to concentrate on his work with his beautiful blonde crush sitting next to him the whole time? It was one thing in Geometry, when all he had to do was recall facts and figures, and another thing entirely when he had to create everything from scratch. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that Alice would be featured often in his upcoming assignments, whether he wanted her to be or not.

* * *

"Ve~! I've never been to a pep rally before!" Felicia said to Gilbert and Matthew as they left World History for the gym. "But I've seen them on TV! Look, I even brought pom-poms!" She waved the little blue-and-white things at them.

Gilbert grinned. "Kesese! Really? You've never been to a pep rally before? Well, let me tell you something: they're nothing like they are on TV. It's usually just a few cheers from the cheerleaders, and sometimes, like today, the dance team performs a new routine. It's really nothing to get excited about." He turned to Matthew. "Although the extra fifteen minutes from class is great, right Mattie?"

The blond snorted. "Definitely," he agreed. As the three approached the doors of the gym, they could hear the sound of the school's fight song, played by the school's best band members, steadily increasing in volume.

Felicia walked through the doors with a squeal of excitement. The band members were seated at the top of the bleachers on the right, and most of the students sat nearby. Matthew gently tugged her past the band and led her up the bleachers, and the three sat in one of the upper rows. "We're supposed to sit with our grades," he yelled over the noise. "This is the sophomores' section, and then the band, and the juniors and seniors sit at the other end."

She nodded and turned to watch the rest of the students file in. Alfred and Alice walked in at almost the same time, and she could see, even from the other end of the gym, that they were pointedly ignoring each other. Behind them, Roderich and Elizabeta followed, hand-in-hand, and the four of them climbed into the sophomore section, below Felicia. Lovina came in and seemed confused, so Feli waved to her until she noticed, and then pointed her to the seniors' section.

Felicia saw Antonio come in, and he climbed up to sit next to Lovina. Next came Lars, the boy from the Netherlands, and Felicia shivered involuntarily. She didn't really like him that much. Not because he wasn't nice! No, he was actually very nice. There was just something about him that she found unsettling….

Finally, the flood of students reduced to a trickle, Felicia spotted Ludwig, who hurried to the sophomore section, taking one of the last available seats, in the first row. A few seconds later, the band quieted down, and the principal, Mr. Bergren, stood in front of the school and made a few announcements. Felicia tuned these out; she didn't really care about parking spaces or overdue library books. She wanted to see the cheerleaders!

A few minutes later, the students let out a cheer as Timothy, the school's Timberwolf mascot, ran out onto the gym floor, followed by approximately a dozen girls with pom-poms…make that eleven girls and one boy, Feli corrected herself with a grimace, as she noted who the twelfth cheerleader was.

"Like, hi everybody!" Feliks said into the microphone. He was wearing a tracksuit-type uniform which matched those of the girls, but with pants instead of a skirt, and he had a blue-and-silver ribbon in his blond hair, as the others did. "We have a great new routine for you guys today! It will, like, totally knock your socks off!" He turned to the cheerleaders. "Are you ready, girls?"

"Ready, Feliks!" they shouted in unison. A call went out, and together, they began to cheer. Felicia couldn't make out the words very well, since the entire school was yelling and screaming excitedly, but the motions they made with their pom-poms (Felicia happily waved hers around with them), and their leaps and twists were all executed perfectly. Even Feliks was doing a great job, leading the girls in the routine. Why was a guy like Feliks so worried about someone like her moving in on his "territory"? Felicia knew for a fact that she would never be able to do the types of things he was doing now.

They finished with a standard pyramid formation, with Feliks and three of the stronger girls on the bottom, and the others on top, arms outstretched and smiles on their faces. Felicia stood and cheered with the rest of the class as they left the gym.

Mr. Bergren came forward once more and announced that the Dance Team would be performing their latest number today, much to the excitement of the students. The lights were dimmed, and a moment later, a single spotlight came on, illuminating a group of about twenty kids in the center of the gym. Felicia recognized only two of them: Michelle Seyers, from her Home Ec. class, and of course Antonio. Everyone was dressed in matching silver-and-blue suits, with bright white jackets and blue-and-white baseball caps.

They all had their eyes downcast, staring at the floor as if in dejection. Then, the music began, a fast, pounding number, and the SHS Dance Team sprang to life.

Felicia hadn't known that Antonio could move like that—she hadn't known that _anyone_ could move like that! They danced at a frantic pace, their arms in the air and their feet barely touching the floor; and yet, they were so graceful, so well-balanced…. If she knew her sister, Lovina was watching with rapt attention, studying the dance steps carefully. She smiled; Vina had always loved dances, even when they'd been too young and clumsy to do much more than wiggle.

The dance was over far too soon, and the students quickly filed out of the gym as the band started up again. Waving goodbye to Gilbert and Elizabeta, and sending one last glance in Ludwig's direction, Felicia raced for her bus, chatting excitedly with Alfred and Matthew about tomorrow's football game and dance.

* * *

'How did you like it, Lovi~?" Antonio asked, sitting across the aisle from Lovina.

Lovina stared at him, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "It…wasn't bad," she said after a moment, turning to stare out the window in an attempt to hide her growing blush.

"Buhyoo!" the Spaniard exclaimed, and Vina whipped her head around to stare at him.

"What the _hell_ kind of noise was _that_?"

"Oh, Lovi, I'm just so happy that you liked my dance!" Antonio said, grinning widely. Lovina felt her red deepen.

"I—I never said I liked it, bastard! I just said that it wasn't bad! God, learn English, alright?" She opened up her World History textbook and pretended to read.

"Lovi~!"

"_What_. Can't you see I'm busy, bastard?"

"Oh, si, sorry to interrupt you! I was just wondering if you could teach me to read upside down like you do!" He smiled innocently at her, though Lovi could easily see the glint of humor in his eyes. She glanced back at her book, realizing that she'd been holding it upside-down.

"B-bastard!"

* * *

"**Dibyoo" or "Jibloo:" "дебил" is Russian for "moron," and that's how Google Translate told me to pronounce it. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, Vina? How do I look~?" Feli twirled around in her new dress. Her sister rolled her eyes.

"Feli, quit that, or you'll get dizzy and fall down, and probably knock your brains out against the table or something." Lovina finished applying her eyeliner and glanced in the mirror. "And I _really_ don't want to have to clean Feli-brains off the carpet, because that's just gross." She snorted. "Not that there would be much to clean up."

Felicia pouted. "Awww, Vina, you're so mean!" She stuck her tongue out at her and looked back down at her dress, which was pale pink. The top of the dress was made of rose-patterned lace, with a high neck that ended just below her chin. The skirt was taffeta, and, as Feli said, "adorably poofy and twirly." A pink ribbon, darker than the dress, wrapped around her waist and was tied in a bow on one side. The color of the dress contrasted with her skin and made her look even tanner than before. Feli ran her hands down her skirt for the umpteenth time that evening.

"Girls~! Are you both ready to go?" Julius called from downstairs.

Dabbing a little more lip gloss on and tucking it into her purse, Vina straightened her own black strapless and turned to her sister. "C'mon, let's get this over with," she sighed. Feli grinned and tucked her arm through her sister's, laughing as she pulled her down the stairs.

"Ah, my beautiful little girls!" their father squealed (in a very manly way, of course). He pulled them into a hug and then, releasing them, pulled a camera from someplace and began taking snapshots of them. "Hmm, if all the girls at this dance are as beautiful as you, then maybe I should go, too, hmm?" He waggled his eyebrows at them and showed his teeth.

"Ew, dad, don't be gross." Vina shook her head as she crossed over to the door. "Even for you, that's just wrong. Would you _really_ date a girl as young as your oldest daughter, bast—_dad_?"

He chuckled. "Probably not! But who knows? Anyway, get in the car and I'll take you to the dance! Where was it, again?"

"It's at the Butterfly Hotel! Eliza says they have a biiiiig ballroom there, and that they have all their dances there! This is going to be so fun!"

"Just stay in the ballroom while you're there, okay Feli? I don't want you to get into any trouble, now."

"Hm? Where else would I go?"

"It's a hotel, Feli. Think about it, idiot."

Feli pondered this as she buckled herself into the backseat, and suddenly her eyes widened in understanding. "Ohhh," she said, nodding. "You don't want me to sneak off to a hotel room, right?"

"That's right, Feli."

"Because the food in those mini-fridges they have in there is reeeeally expensive, and you don't want me to take more than I can afford! Ve~! Daddy, you're so thoughtful~!" She leaned forward and put her arms around her father's neck, and he chuckled.

"I can see I have nothing to worry about, then."

* * *

"Hey, Feli! Hi, Vina!" Elizabeta greeted them as they entered the wide room. She wore a dark green, knee-length dress with a strip of white in the front, and a big pink ribbon wrapped around her waist. "Awww, Feli, you look so cute!" Eliza hugged her with a laugh.

"Ve~! Thank you, Eliza! You look so pretty! Where's Roderich?"

Elizabeta snorted. "Bathroom. He had to fix his hair; I swear, he's _such_ a priss."

"Feli, I'm going to go get some punch. I'll see you later, okay?" Vina gave her sister an absent wave over her shoulder.

Felicia glanced over at the refreshments table in the dim light. "Oh, okay! I think I'm going to go walk around a little bit." She turned to Elizabeta. "I'll see you later, too!"

The ballroom was big and round, with pale blue walls and shiny, hardwood floors. Balloons and streamers hung from the ceiling, along with shining silver-and-blue hearts, diamonds, and other shapes. High above her head hung an electric chandelier, and all of its bulbs had been replaced with colored ones. The room was already crowded with students, and Feli felt a rush of excitement as the group moved with the pulsing beat from the speakers.

She made her way along the edge of the room until she saw Matthew and Alfred, chatting near a group of tables. "Hi, guys!" she called out over the noise. They turned and grinned at her.

"Feli!" Alfred exclaimed, pulling her into a big bear hug. "You made it! Did you see the game earlier? We kicked total butt! Like HEROES! And isn't this so great? It looks even better than last year!"

"Really, you did? Congratulations, Alfred! Sorry I didn't get to see your football game, but I'm really happy for you! And it all looks so pretty!" Feli said, smiling at the brothers. "But it's so _loud_!"

"That's half the fun!" Alfred replied. "Plus, my bro here's so quiet that I can never hear him nagging me. It's _awesome_!"

His near-twin sent him a pointed glare and walked off, presumably for the refreshment table. Alfred and Feli parted soon after, Alfred to look for Alice—"I need to find Ali—a friend. See ya later!" accompanied by a blush—and Feli for another source of entertainment. It was early enough in the night that most of the party-goers were simply standing around and talking, rather than dancing, though a small group in the center of the room was doing so, their limbs flailing wildly in time with the beat. Feli felt an urge to join them, and she started heading toward them.

"Hey, Feli."

She turned toward the voice with a smile, which froze when she saw who it was. "O-oh. Hi, Lars," she said weakly. He grinned and threw an arm over her shoulder.

"I like your dress. Pink's a good color on you…" He leaned down and rested his head on her own, and Feli pulled away just enough that his head fell on her shoulder, instead. "Hey, d'you wanna dance?"

"W-well, I—"

"C'mon, Feli. It'll be fun!" Lars stood up straight and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the crowd. What should she do? Should she voice her concerns? Pull away and disappear into the crowd? Maybe she should just dance with him…she didn't want to be rude, and surely he wasn't as bad as she'd been thinking…

"Erm, hallo, Felicia!" Ludwig's voice broke through the crowd, and both Feli and Lars stopped in their tracks to turn toward him.

"Ah, Ludwig!" Felicia attempted to nonchalantly extract her wrist from Lars's grip, but he had tightened it. She glanced down at his hand, and back up to Ludwig, a pleading look in her eyes.

Ludwig grimaced. "Er, Feli, I needed to speak with you about…our assignment in Home Ec. Could you…come with me for a moment?" His gaze flickered between Feli's puppy-dog amber eyes and Lars's fierce, daring green ones. Why were they together, anyway? He focused on Lars, steeling his own gaze in a way that he usually avoided, since it tended to frighten people.

Lars released her wrist with a big, fake grin. "Ah, well if it's for school, then no problem…" his gaze softened as he turned to Felicia, who had quickly grabbed onto Ludwig's arm. "But remember, you owe me a dance, pretty little Feli!"

When he was gone, Feli let out a sigh and released her death-grip on her friend's arm. "Ve! Sorry about that, Luddy…but Lars just kind of creeps me out…" she shivered.

"That's alright, Felicia. As long as everything's okay…" he reddened as he gazed down at her, smiling up at him. The dress looked perfect on her. Sweet and innocent, just as she was. It was so unlike the short, revealing dresses that most of the other girls were wearing, and he quickly turned his gaze toward the dance floor. "You look very nice tonight…"

She giggled. "_Grazie_, Ludwig! That suit _suits_ you very well!" She laughed at her own silly joke, her eyes scrunching closed and her cheeks forming dimples.

Ludwig laughed, too, and, blushing, offered her a hand. "Erm, would you…like to dance, Felicia?"

Felicia blinked at him, surprised. Ludwig was…asking her to dance? She certainly hadn't expected _this_ from her stoic, steely-eyed German friend! Was he trying to make up for the incident with Lars? Was he just being friendly? Or…was it possible that he _liked_ her? She hadn't thought that he would like her as anything more than friends, and so she had stamped out any hopes at romance that had arisen over the past two weeks. But, as she looked up into his flushed face, she thought, _Ve~! Maybe Ludwig _does _like me?_

When she didn't reply right away, Ludwig stammered out, "Er, we don't have to, if you don't want to! I just thought, you know, since we _are_ at a dance, and there is nozhing else to do really, that maybe you would like to…but we can go and do something else, instead! Or, you know, we could—"

"Ludwig," Felicia said softly, with a big, dimply smile, "I would love to dance with you!" She took his hand, which he was still holding out, and gently pulled him out onto the dance floor.

* * *

The punch was disgusting. This had to be Vina's third or fourth cup, and the taste had yet to improve. She took another big drink of the sickly-sweet red liquid and drained the cup, crunching it in her fist and tossing it into a nearby trash can. Why had she let her stupid _sorella_ drag her to this stupid dance? She didn't want to be here! Sure, she loved to dance, but not in front of—or _with_—strangers! When she got home tonight, she was going to violently murder Felicia, Feli-brains or not.

Glancing down at herself, she pulled the front of her dress up a little, cursing her small breasts and her dress's lack of straps. She only knew a handful of people here, and it seemed they were all busy elsewhere. She grabbed another cup of punch and took a swig, grimacing.

"Lovi!"

She quickly forced back the little bubble of excitement that rose up in her chest at the sound of Antonio's voice, wondering for a split second why she would feel so happy to hear that bastard, before she decided that it was just because he was someone she knew. "What do _you _want?" she hissed as he stepped up beside her in a white button-down shirt and a blue vest, with a matching bow tie.

"You looked lonely standing over here, so I thought we could hang out together, _chica_!" Antonio beamed at her, taking a cup of the punch for himself.

"I was _not_ lonely, bastard! I just…I just really like this punch, is all!" She took another swig, forcing herself not to gag.

Antonio made a face when he tasted it. "Hmm…well, to each their own, then!" he said, happily tossing the rest into the trash. The song that had been playing came to an end and a new song began, which Vina recognized almost instantly as J-Lo's "On the Floor." She felt her legs twitch in anticipation; she loved to dance to this song! But there were so many people around…

Seeing some emotion flicker across her face, Antonio smiled and took her hand in his. "Come on, Lovi, let's dance! This is a really fun song to dance to!" He started to pull her toward the center of the ballroom, but she held back, digging her heels into the polished floor. He stopped and turned to her with a frown. "What's wrong, Lovi? Don't you know how to dance?" His smile widened. "I can teach you, _chica_! The Dance Team danced to this at a competition once, so I can show you all the steps!"

She blushed and tried to yank her hand out of his. "Bastard! I know how to dance! I just don't want to dance with _you_!" _Liar,_ something whispered in her mind.

He pouted. "Aw, c'mon, Lovi! Just dance this one song with me? Please?"

She glared at him stubbornly, but he could see her resolve weakening. He mentally cheered when he saw her face redden and her eyes soften. "F-fine!" she said, grabbing his hand again and leading him out into the crowd. "But just this one song, and just because I like this song, okay? _Bastardo_."

"Yay~! Let's dance, Lovi!" He stepped closer to her and started dancing, his movements frantic yet graceful, as they had been at the pep rally yesterday. Lovina swallowed, unsure of herself, and he took her hands in his. "C'mon, Lovi! Dance with me!"

Nervously, Lovina began to mimic his movements, twisting and turning her body as he was doing. "That's it!" he said, letting go of her. "Keep it up, Lovi!" Gradually, she began to lose herself in the music, and her eyes closed as she let her body take over for her mind. Her dance became less a mimic of Antonio's, and more of a Lovina-centric dance. She felt the calm excitement overcome her, as she always did when she danced.

Antonio watched her with a grin. He'd had a suspicion that the defensive Italian would be a good dancer and he wasn't disappointed; in fact, he was incredibly impressed! She danced with more joy, with more passion than at least half the Dance Team, and she executed it so beautifully!

This song, too, came to an end, and Vina's eyes snapped open, taking on a wary glimmer as she stilled her dancing. She let out a sudden "Chigi!" when Antonio threw his arms around her and squeezed. "Wow, Lovi~! You're amazing! You should definitely join the Dance Team!"

"Sh-shut up, bastard!" She shoved him away. "I—I can't join the fuckking Dance Team! Are you stupid or something?"

Antonio opened his mouth to reply that no, he was not stupid, and in fact he believed that Lovina could easily become the star of the Dance Team, when she let out a sudden growl. "That fucking potato bastard is dancing with Feli! _Dio, avrebbe fatto meglio a prendere il suo cazzo di mani dalla mia sorellina, o sta andando a perdere alcune delle sue parti del corpo!" _ She pushed past him and marched toward Felicia and Ludwig, who were laughing together on the other side of the dance floor.

* * *

"Wow, Luddy, who knew you were such a good dancer?" Felicia laughed, stepping on Ludwig's toes for the umpteenth time. "Oops! Sorry again!"

He chuckled at her. "It's okay, Feli. You don't have to apologize every time. Here, let me show you the steps." He took her hands in his, ignoring the fluttery feeling in his chest, and began to lead her. She followed along, a crease appearing between her eyes as she concentrated on learning the steps.

_"See? Your left foot goes here, and you lift your right leg like this—ja, _sehr gut!_ Und z=then you move this arm back like this, and—ja! See? I told you you could do it!"_

He shook his head. Another weird memory…of teaching someone to dance? When had he done that, before…?

"Ugh, I did it again!" Feli groaned, stepping back from him and glaring at her feet. She looked back up at him, a small smile on her face. "Maybe I should just stick to cooking and drawing, huh, Ludwig?"

Chuckling, he took her hands again. "You'll get it, Felicia. It just takes a little practice."

"Potato bastard! You get away from my sister right now or I'll castrate you with this potato chip!" Lovina stormed up to the two, angrily brandishing a Lay's potato chip, with Antonio following closely behind.

"Vina! Stop being so mean!" Feli scolded her older sister. She took the chip from her and handed it to Ludwig, who eyed it with suspicion.

"I'm not being mean! This bastard had his hands all over you! _Nessuno tocca mia sorella in quel modo! Nessuno_."

"But Vina, he was just teaching me to dance! Besides, you and Antonio were dancing together earlier! How is that any different?" She pouted, taking Ludwig's arm in her hers again.

"W-we weren't—Antonio was—Shut up, Feli!" Vina spluttered. She glared at them both once more before snatching the potato chip from Ludwig's hand and stomping away.

After a moment, Ludwig said, "Your sister is…a very interesting person."

"Ve~! She's such a nice sister sometimes! I mean, not for wanting to hurt you, but she's always really protective of me, especially since our mama died! Oh, by the way, Luddy," she leaned closer to him. "What does 'castrate' mean?"

* * *

"Gil, what are you doing?" Matthew tapped his friend on the shoulder, stepping closer so that he could be heard over the loud music. Gilbert started and slowly turned to face him; but when he saw that it was Matt, he laughed.

"Kesesese! Check it out, _liebling_!" He glanced to either side before pulling a bottle out of his sleeve. He held it up to Matthew's face so he could see the label in the dim light, and Matthew swiped it from him with a grimace.

"Gil! You can_not_ spike the punch with _rum_!"

"Well I'm not going to spike it with champagne!" He grabbed the bottle back and leaned over the punch bowl again.

"Gil! Knock it off!" the blond reached out to take the bottle, accidentally hitting it in the process and sending the amber liquid gushing into the bright red punch. The boys looked at each other in shock, and then Gilbert burst out laughing.

"Oh, Mattie!" he chuckled, slipping the now-empty bottle into a hidden pocket in his jacket, "I was only going to pour in half the bottle! Now everyone's going to get super drunk, and it's going to be hil_ar_ious!" He slapped him on the back and led him away from the scene of the crime. "C'mon, _geliebte_! Let's go and dance so that we have an alibi when they figure it out!"

Shaking his head and laughing, Matthew followed him out onto the dance floor.

* * *

"No."

"Aw, but _chica_! It would be so much fun~!"

"No!"

`"Pleeeease, Lovi~?"

"NO. I am _not_ joining the fucking Dance Team, bastard, and that's _final_!"

"But Lovi~! C'mon, there must be something I can do to convince you~!" Antonio paused by one of the tables as an idea struck him, and he felt a slow smile cross his face. "Lovi~! How about this, then? If you join the Dance Team—_and_ show up to the meetings, _and_ go to the competitions—then I'll buy you a lunch of delicious tomato-ness twice a month. How's that sound?"

Lovina stopped and pursed her lips in thought. She turned back to him with a scowl. "Once a week, and no competitions."

"Fine. I'll buy you something tomato-y and delicious once a week, _but_ you still have to compete with us." Antonio stuck his hand out with a smirk. "Deal, Lovi?"

He could see her wavering, caught between her two opposite wants; the want to stay out of the spotlight, and the want to devour those magical berries…apparently, her love of tomatoes won out, and she begrudgingly shook his hand. "Fine, bastard. I'll join your fucking Dance Team. But I won't enjoy it!"

Laughing, Antonio pulled her into a hug. "Yay! Oh, Lovi, this will be so fun, you'll see~!" He held her tighter, seemingly oblivious as she struggled to break away from him. "Why don't we go and dance some more, _chica_? A new song's starting now!" He let her go, but kept a grip on her wrist, pulling her back to the dance floor, and Lovina tried unsuccessfully to hide her growing blush.

* * *

While Antonio and Lovina were rejoining the dancers, Ludwig and Felicia had decided that it was time for a break. Feli was laughing and holding onto Ludwig's arm as they headed for the refreshment table, and he felt lighter than he had in a long while, freer and…happier. Maybe it was because of the elation of being at a dance, surrounded by all these people and yelling over the speakers…or maybe it was because of the sweet little Italian girl hanging on his arm.

Or both. Yes, probably both.

He handed her a cup of the bright red punch, which she took and quickly gulped down. She pursed her lips as she swallowed. "Hmm…that tastes really good, but also kinda…weird? I don't know how to describe it…" She took another swallow.

Ludwig nodded at her as he took a drink from his own cup—and nearly spit it out. Someone had spiked the punch! He looked sharply at Feli, who had quickly downed her drink.

"Ve~!" she said. "That was really good~! Hey, Luddy, you wanna dance some more~?" She giggled and tossed the cup into a trash can.

"Felicia, I think we should go and sit down now…" He took her elbow and began to lead her to one of the tables at the edge of the room.

The alcohol had affected her quickly, and she stumbled a little in her heels. "Ve~! But Luddy, I want to dance~! C'mon, Lutz, let's go dance~!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "…What did you call me?"

She frowned. "…Luddy? I _always_ call you Luddy, Luddy! Because it's so cute, just like _you_!" She giggled again, clutching his arm and leaning into his side.

Blushing, Ludwig eyed the girl. _It must have been my imagination. I thought she called me "Lutz," but no one's called me that in such a long time…_ He shook his head to clear it and looked at her again. Her alcohol tolerance must have been incredibly low…it probably wasn't safe for her to stay here in this condition. Carefully, he led the tipsy girl to one of the tables and set her down in the chair. "Stay here, und I'll be right back, ja?" He set off in search of her older sister, glancing back over his shoulder once to see Felicia gazing lazily around the ballroom, smiling sleepily.

He found Lovina and Antonio surprisingly quickly, dancing together in almost the center of the ballroom. "Erm…sorry to interrupt…" he said as he neared them. They turned to him, Antonio with a look of disappointment and Lovina with one of fury.

"Bastard! Did you leave my little sister alone? What kind of guy are you? Why you—"

"Sorry, Lovina, but I have to speak with you for a moment." Motioning her closer, he told her of the situation, fully expecting a slap to the face or a knee to the groin…or a potato chip, he thought with a wince. Instead, Vina's eyes widened.

"Potato bastard, you let _mia_ _sorellina_ get _drunk_? Damn it, _bastardo_, take me to her right now!" She stepped away from Antonio and hurried after the German, who led her straight to the table he'd left Feli at…

Only to find it empty.

"_Scheiße_!" He swore, looking frantically around the room for the girl. "Lovina," he said through gritted teeth, "I think Feli ran off! We have to find her before she gets into some kind of trouble!"

"She _what_? Damn it, potato bastard, why would you just leave her all alone like that? You know what could happen if she wanders around _drunk_? _Dio mio, se lei si fa male ho intenzione di ucciderti così lentamente e dolorosamente ti auguro avevo castrato tu con quel chip!"_

Ludwig groaned. "I don't…speak Italian,' he said, turning to begin his search for Felicia.

"And you'd better be _damn_ grateful for that, _bastardo_!"

* * *

The hard wooden chair was really uncomfortable. And wherehad Ludwig gone? He said he'd be right back, but that had been _ages_ ago, and sitting here was so _boring_! She wanted to _dance_! Grinning, Felicia stood and wobbled into the crowd.

"Oof," she bumped into someone and looked up at them. "Ve~! I'm sorry…" she mumbled, smiling at the blurry person in front of her. They looked like a big pink-and-yellow blob and she giggled at the thought.

"Oh look, it's, like, the little country bumpkin!"

Felicia frowned, blinking away some of the blurriness. "Oh, hi Feliks~!" she said cheerfully, once she realized who it was. "Isn't Homecoming _super_ fun?"

Feliks snorted at her, smirking. "Ohmigawd, you're like, totally drunk!" He let out a long laugh. "That is _way_ too funny, because I thought that you were, like, a total goody-goody, but here you are, completely smashed at a high school dance!" He laughed again, toying with his blond hair.

Felicia giggled. "I'm not drunk, Feliks~! I just had some punch, is all~! Well, I'm gonna go find Luddy, so I'll see you later, Feliks~!" She waved and staggered off once again, oblivious to the cheerleader's taunts.

"There you are, Felicia!" Ludwig reached into the crowd and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him. "I told you to stay at the table!"

"Ve~! Sorry, Luddy, but it was boring over there~!"

He sighed. "Well, your _scwester_ is worried about you, und I'm going to drive both of you home, ja?"

"Aw, but Luddy, I wanna dance some more!" She grabbed onto his arms and smiled at him sleepily.

"_Nein_, Felicia. Come on, let's go."

* * *

"Stupid _sorella_, getting drunk and making me leave early…I was just starting to have fun, too. This is all your fault, potato bastard. You got my sister drunk, and—"

"For the last time, Lovina," Ludwig said through gritted teeth as he neared the Vargas girls' home, "I did not get your sister drunk. She drank it all before I even realized it had been spiked!"

"Shut up, bastard, I wasn't talking to you!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and glanced in his rearview mirror at the Italians in his back seat. Lovina was sitting next to the passenger-side window, her torso twisted so that she was facing outside. Beside her, Felicia lay draped across her older sister, her head on Lovina's shoulder and her arms wrapped loosely around her waist. If he didn't know that Felicia was passed out drunkenly, it would probably be the most adorable thing he'd ever seen…

Forcing the car back into the street with a sharp turn of the wheel, Ludwig bit his lip and tried to force down his embarrassment. He had _not_ just thought that, had he? Sure, she was a very pretty girl, with her soft brown hair and warm honey-colored eyes, the way she bounced happily from place to place and always seemed to wear a smile…he shook his head again, frowning. What was _wrong _with him? He thought back to the other day in class, when he'd been struggling to work up the courage to ask her to the dance. Maybe…maybe he had a crush on her? But no, he was _Ludwig_, the serious, strict, scary German-born with barely any experience in any kind of relationship…

He sighed, turning into a darkened driveway that Lovina angrily pointed out. Maybe he would have to talk to that _dummkopf_ of a brother of his, after all.

Parking the car, he got out quickly and walked around to the opposite side, opening the passenger side door for the girls.

"Back off, potato!" growled Lovina, unbuckling her seat belt and attempting to disentangle Felicia's limbs from her body. "We don't fucking need your help!"

Nevertheless, Ludwig assisted Lovina in carrying Feli into their house. They each had one of her arms draped across their shoulders, resulting in a very lopsided Feli, who had one foot dragging across the ground and the other dangling high above the earth.

Their house was dark, and Lovina paused to flip a switch beside the door, flooding the room with light. Blinking, Ludwig glanced around, noting the expensive-looking couch and huge, widescreen TV. The floor was hardwood, polished to a shine, with a big, fancy rug spread out on the floor. Photos hung on the walls, pictures of Felicia, Lovina, and two adults, who he assumed were their parents.

"Are you done ogling our décor, bastard? If you're going to help me with my stupid drunk sister, then get your lazy ass over here and help me carry her up the stairs!"

He hadn't even realized that the two had left him, and he hurried over to the base of the stairs, where Lovina was standing, her hands tucked beneath her sister's arms in an attempt to drag her up the stairs. Felicia smiled and mumbled something in her sleep, giggling a bit.

"Erm…maybe it would be best if I carried her up myself…?" It would certainly be safer than allowing Lovina to drag her along backwards, as that would probably result in the untimely deaths of two Italian girls.

"Tch. Whatever, bastard. Her room's the one on the right with all the frilly junk and stuffed animals. I'm going to sleep." Lovina dropped her sister on the stairs and headed up to her room, turning once to call over her shoulder, "And don't even _think_ about doing anything to her while she's unconscious, bastard. I have connections in the mafia, and trust me, they wouldn't think _twice_ about bumping off some high school kid."

Ludwig swallowed and nodded, turning his attention to Felicia. Sighing, he carefully slid one arm behind her shoulders and the other behind her knees, lifting her easily into his arms. He hadn't expected her to be so…light. With all the pasta he'd seen her wolf down more than once, it was actually astonishing.

He looked down at her sleeping face and felt his blush return with a vengeance. He turned his gaze to the top of the staircase and started to climb. _Don't look at her. Don't think she's cute. Stop thinking she's cute. Don't look down at her—_Scheiße_._

He managed to make it up the stairs without incident, and quickly located her bedroom, if the lacy, embroidered sign reading "Felicia's Room" was anything to go by. He nudged the door open with his shoulder, careful not to jostle the sleeping girl, and gently set her on the bed, tucking the blankets around her. A thought occurred to him, and he shifted her torso so that she was lying on her side, as he had done for Gil several times in the past. She hadn't drunk very much alcohol at all, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and he really didn't want her to choke to death on her own vomit.

Seeing that everything was alright, he turned to exit the room, when something on her bedside table caught his eye. Leaning down, he picked up a framed photograph, which was of the four members of the family. Each of the adults, the beautiful woman and the cheerful man, was holding one of the Italian sisters, laughing at the camera. His gaze focused on the one in the man's lap, and he instantly recognized Felicia, although…he felt as though he'd seen her before. Not just as a teenager but as she was here, in this picture. But that was impossible—he'd only met her a few weeks ago! How could he possibly have known her as a toddler?

Suddenly, he felt something sharp prick him in the back of his neck, and he dropped the picture to the floor with a clatter.

"Who are you and why are you in my daughter's room in the middle of the night?" A deathly serious voice came from behind him, and he swallowed audibly.

"I—I'm a friend of hers from school," he said quietly, panic rising in him. "I was at the dance with her und Lovina, und Felicia fell asleep on the way back, so Ich was just putting her in bed, sir. I swear, that is all that happened!"

"And why should I believe you? This is an awfully interesting situation you've found yourself in, boy."

"I—"

"Dad, just put down the sword and go screw that whore in the living room. She looks really fucking lost or whatever." Lovina's voice came from the doorway, sounding amused.

"Lovina, she's not a whore! She's a lovely woman I met at the—grocery store—today!"

"Yeah, dad. Whatever you say, bast—dad."

"Vina, watch your language!"

"What? I called you 'dad'!"

"But you _started _to call me something else, and—"

Ludwig cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but, sir…could you please remove the sword from my spine? Thank you."

The room was silent for a moment, and then the man burst out laughing, withdrawing his sword. "Of course, of course. Terribly sorry to have frightened you, boy, but a father must watch out for his daughters, no?"

Ludwig nodded and slowly turned to face him. He'd been correct in the assumption that the man in the photos was their father, apparently,

The man laughed and gestured for him to follow him out into the hall. Was he bipolar? He'd switched moods fairly quickly… "So, I'm Julius, their father…and I suppose you must be Ludwig, right?"

'Erm…yes, sir. That is my name…"

"I'm bored," Lovina announced, and went back into her room.

"Yes, I figured as much from your accent. Well, Ludwig, I apologize for the misunderstanding, and I thank you for bringing my girls back safe and sound." Julius grinned and patted his sword. "You know, my little Feli talks about you quite often…I've heard a lot about you, and I'm glad she's made such a…_nice…friend_. Touch her or hurt her in any way and I'll make sure that it's impossible for you to have children at any point in your life." He gazed lovingly at his sword, and then back at Ludwig. "Now, why don't you go on home, Ludwig? I have some _important business_ to take care of, if you know what I mean." He winked.

Ludwig gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir." He stepped past the frightening Italian man—_almost as scary as my own dad_—and hurried down the stairs and out the door. As he slid into the driver's seat, he found himself wondering if he should really allow himself to get mixed up in this family…but then he thought of Felicia's smile, her cheerful personality…

Yes. Yes, Felicia was completely worth it.

* * *

_Omake_

"GILBERT! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" The angry blond German screamed the next afternoon, upon finding an empty bottle of rum in the hidden pocket of his brother's suit.

In his basement room, Gilbert slumbered on, dreaming peaceful dreams of floating on a giant pancake on a river of maple syrup…

* * *

**I decided to combine both Homecoming Dance chapters into one. I hope you don't mind. :)**

"_**Dio, avrebbe fatto meglio a prendere il suo cazzo di mani dalla mia sorellina, o sta andando a perdere alcune delle sue parti del corpo!":**_** (Italian) "God, he'd better take his fucking hands off my little sister, or he's going to lose a few of his body parts!"**

"_**Nessuno tocca mia sorella in quel modo! Nessuno.":**_** (Italian) "No one touches my sister like that! No one."**

"_**Dio mio, se lei si fa male ho intenzione di ucciderti così lentamente e dolorosamente ti auguro avevo castrato tu con quel chip!":**_** (Italian) "My God, if she gets hurt I'm going to kill you so slowly and painfully you'll wish I had castrated you with that chip!"**


	7. Chapter 7

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** Hey Lud, Feli wasnt in skool 2day was she?

**Unity-Law-Freedom:** No, she wasn't, and I'm worried about her…I'm sure it has to do with those rumors that started yesterday…

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** I dont kno y any1 wud bleev them neway. There so unawesome and untrue. Mabe u shud call her?

**Unity-Law-Freedom:** I don't have her number. And I'm sure she wouldn't want to talk to me, anyway.

_**DancingTomatoes67 has logged in.**_

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** Dood its gonna b fine. Hey, mabe Tony has her #!

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** Tony! gr8 timin! U got Vinas # rite?

**DancingTomatoes67:** Si, I do. Why?

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** Lud needs 2 call Feli cuz she wasnt in skool 2day.

**DancingTomatoes67:** Oh, okay. Its because of the rumors, isn't it/ Lovi was upset all day and kept saying she was going to castrate the stupid potato bastard. I'm surprised she didn't try to kill you at lunch today, actually!

**Unity-Law-Freedom:** I only saw her in History, and she was glaring at me the whole time, but that's hardly unusual…

**DancingTomatoes67:** 738-9856. That's their home phone. And yes, Lovi's so silly1 X3

**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived:** Ok, me n Matt r goin 2 a hockey game now so ill t2u l8r! Gud luk, Lud!

**Unity-Law-Freedom:** Thank you, Antonio. I appreciate it very much…

_**The-Awesome-Has-Arrived has logged out.**_

**DancingTomatoes67:** No problemo, mi amigo! Good luck!

_**Unity-Law-Freedom has logged out.**_

Ludwig pushed away from his computer with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. He glanced over at the pile of textbooks on the desk: homework he should be finishing for class tomorrow. But how could he focus on school with a potential crisis on his hands? He felt his face heat again as he thought of the awful rumors floating around…

He reached into his pocket and fished out his cell phone, flipping it open and quickly typing in the number. His thumb hovered over the send button for a moment, hesitant, before he finally tapped it and held the cell to his ear. He swallowed around a rather large lump in his throat as the phone began to ring.

"_Pronto_." A man's voice answered the phone, and Ludwig felt his heart still.

"Uh—erm, hallo, this is Ludwig, und I was wondering if Ich could speak with Felicia…?" Oh, why did it have to be her father? He could handle _Lovina_ better than this sword-slinging nut…

"Ludwig." He could feel the iciness from here. "What are all these rumors going around? You had something to with this, didn't you? Oh, I should have run you through when I had the chance! Why you—!"

"_Daddy, who are you talking to_?" He could hear a faint voice in the background, and he instantly recognized Felicia's voice.

"No one, Feli. Go back and watch TV, _bella_."

"_Si_…"

"Please, sir," said Ludwig, using his most authoritative voice. "If you will simply allow me to explain…"

There was a pause on the other end, and then a sigh. "This had better be good. No lies, understand?"

"Yes, sir. Well, erm…it seems as though someone spiked the punch at the dance, and I gave Felicia a cup before I realized what had been done to it. As soon as I realized that she was drunk, I found her sister and brought both of them home. That's all that happened. I—" he paused, wondering how to say this. "I am just as appalled by these horrible rumors as you are, and I am certainly not the one who started them! I was…I was worried when Felicia wasn't in school today, and I just wanted to make sure she was alright.…" he trailed off, hoping that Julius would understand.

Silence again at the other end, and then a sigh. "Fine, fine. I believe you, if only because Lovina was with you the whole time…. I'll go get Feli for you."

"_Danke_, sir. _Vielen_ _Dank_."

"Feli? _Bella_, the phone is for you!"

"_Who is it?_"

"It's Ludwig." There was another pause, and the sound of the phone being passed from one person to another.

"…H-hi, Ludwig…" Felicia's voice filled the phone, shy and hesitant. "Um, how are you…?"

"I…I'm fine, Felicia. But I was worried about you. Are you doing alright?" God, why did this have to be so awkward? They were friends. Close friends. It shouldn't be so awkward to deal with something like this…

"I'm…I'm fine, Luddy!" He could hear the false cheer in her voice, and knew that she was close to tears. He sighed.

"Felicia. I can tell you're upset. You can talk to me about it, you know…"

Another pause, and then suddenly Felicia erupted in hysterics. "I-I know, Luddy, but I just—I don't know why they would say that kind of thing about me! I w-w-would never do that kind of thing, and I just—I-I-I couldn't go to school today because I was so embarrassed, and everyone was laughing at me yesterday, and I just—I just couldn't—!" Felicia's words became unintelligible as she burst into tears.

"Shh, Felicia, it's okay…" God, how were you supposed to soothe someone over the phone? It was still so awkward! "I—I know that they are all lies. I was with you the whole time, and..."

"…Ludwig?" Felicia had quieted down, though her voice was still wavery. "N-nothing… none of that actually _happened_, right…?"

He felt his face heat once more. "_N_-_nein_! Of course not! I-I would never do something like that, I promise you!"

"I kn-know, Luddy…I'm sorry. I'm just…I just don't know why they would say that about me…I n-never did anything to them…did I?"

"_Nein_, Felicia. _Sie sind alle Arschlöcher_! None of our friends believe them, and we will get it all straightened out. You will see…"

"…Okay, Ludwig. Thank you. Um…I'm going to go now. I'll…I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright, Felicia. Will you be in class tomorrow?"

"I think so. Um, bye, Luddy…" There was a _click_, and then, a moment later, a dial tone. With a sigh, Ludwig shut his phone and leaned his head into his hands. He was actually rather glad that the girl hadn't been in school that day; the rumors had intensified, and he was certain that she would be unable to handle it. Hell! _He_ had barely managed to keep it together all day, and he was _Ludwig_!

Resignedly, he turned back to his school books and cracked one open. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow….

* * *

Things weren't better tomorrow. In fact, things were much worse.

His face flaming as he bore the latest of their tales in silence, Ludwig marched through the halls to his first period class, Geometry. He hadn't seen Felicia this morning, but then, they often arrived at different times. Amidst the stares and snickers of his fellow classmates, Ludwig slid into his seat with a quiet groan. When he got his hands on whoever had started this—he'd already given his brother a sound thrashing, once he'd discovered who had spiked the punch in the first place—he was going to strangle them.

The bell rang then, and Ludwig forced himself to sit up straighter, and to face the teacher attentively. A boy a few desks ahead of him turned toward him, waggling his eyebrows and sending him a thumbs-up.

Ludwig clenched his fist on his leg, forcing back the anger and humiliation that surged through him.

"Did you hear the latest news?" His acquaintance, Ivan, asked from beside him. "They are saying that you are the one who spiked the punch in the first place." He smiled softly at him.

Ludwig gritted his teeth. "Where do they come up with these things? I am not the one who spiked the punch, und they have no proof of it!"

"I heard someone say that they saw you give her a cup of the punch, and that you made sure that she drank it and then you took her out to your car."

"I—" Ludwig's eyes widened. "Oh, Gott, that seems really bad, doesn't it? But that's not what happened! She was thirsty, und—"

"Yes, I know what happened, Ludwig. I saw. But they don't care about that; they want only to listen to Feliks, da?" Ivan turned back in his seat and opened his book to begin his equations.

Ludwig opened his mouth, and then snapped it closed as anger overtook him, causing him to shake furiously. Feliks! He should have known that he had been the one to start those disgusting rumors! He'd had it out for Felicia since the first day!

He'd _made_ her _cry_. _Twice_.

Oh, yes. Ludwig knew about the rose. He'd come out of the school just in time to see him snatch the flower from her hands and grind it into the pavement. He'd wanted to go to her, comfort her, as she kneeled on the ground and tearfully gathered the remains of his gift to her…but he couldn't. He didn't know how. And so he'd simply stood on the sidelines, watching her from the shadows.

Well, he wouldn't do that again. He would step up to the plate this time. He couldn't bear to see her so hurt anymore…and if he didn't do something soon, then Feliks would just continue to hurt her.

He would _not_ allow this to continue anymore. Why?

Because he was _Ludwig_. And he was in love with that girl.

* * *

"You bastards! _Mia sorellina_ would _never_ do something like that! You take that back and you shut up right now, or I'll cut out your tongue myself!" Lovina angrily waved her paint brush around, specks of red spraying across desks and students alike.

"Ms. Vargas," called Ms. Gray from the front of the classroom, "Please sit down and get back to work. And the rest of you," She leveled a glare at the students who had been the cause of Vina's violent outburst, "do your work quietly. If I hear one more peep out of you, it'll be an hour of detention for each syllable spoken."

The class quieted down, and Lovina sank further into her plastic seat. Beside her, Gilbert let out a snort and sent her a grimace. Neither of them were very happy with how the week had been going so far; they were both protective of their younger siblings, no matter how little they seemed to care for them to the public's eyes. And with the addition of Gilbert himself to the rumor mill, he found himself considerably unhappy.

Glancing across the room, he locked eyes with Elizabeta in the front row. She glared at him, her mouth curving into a disappointed frown before she turned back to her painting. So even she believed them…that hurt more than it should have, really. Didn't she know him well enough? If she honestly thought that he would fool around like that, then it was definitely for the best that they had broken up.

He forced the thought from his mind and turned his focus instead to his brother. How was he holding up? Gilbert had always found it easy to laugh things off when they got tough, but Ludwig…well, Ludwig always put up a stoic front, pretending as though he didn't know what was going on, or that he didn't care one way or the other. But he knew that sooner or later, Ludwig would snap, and when he snapped, well…the results wouldn't be pretty. He absently rubbed his upper arm, wincing as his fingers pressed a little too hard on a bruise.

Sighing, he continued working on his painting, a picture depicting a small yellow bird, flying up from the hands of a grinning blond boy.

* * *

Ludwig glanced up at the clock again, his hand clenching and unclenching under his desk. She wasn't here again…not that he could blame her. Hopefully she'd be able to return to school tomorrow, though….

"Ludwig_."_

His head snapped up, and he found himself face-to-face with Ms. Atwater, who had her hands splayed across his desk and was staring at him intensely. "Please explain, Ludwig, what Humphrey's true feelings are regarding Miss Brewster?"

He swallowed and glanced down at his book, realizing for the first time that he hadn't turned a single page all class period. "Uh-um… Humphrey…he wants to…he feels that—"

Taking his book from him, she quickly flipped through several pages and then pointed to a specific passage. "Here, Ludwig. Read this, and remember to read between the lines. Jack London was a master of symbolism." Pausing, she glanced around the room and, seeing that her other students were looking away, she leaned closer and continued, "I know that all these rumors are bothering you, but don't worry too much about it. It'll all blow over soon." She smiled at him and straightened. "Or, you know, you could just…_make_ it blow over." She pounded a closed fist into her palm and winked at him once before heading back to her desk.

Ludwig stared after her in shock. Had his English teacher…just told him to beat Feliks up? He shook his head. He knew Ms. Atwater was crazy—that much was obvious to anyone, especially to himself, since he saw her outside of school so often with his aunt—but he knew that no teacher could be _that_ crazy. If anyone found out that she was supporting his fighting on school grounds, she could be fired!

To quote his elder brother: "_Awesome_."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the bell finally rang, and he stood and gathered his things quickly, stuffing his books none-too-gently into his bag and hurrying for the door. He brushed past Alfred, who seemed like he wanted to say something, but decided against it at the last moment.

If he remembered correctly, Feliks and his little clique liked to hang out in Junior Hall at lunch. Lots of other kids ate there, too, whether they liked him or not. It would be the perfect opportunity for payback…

A hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder, whipping him around. His Mechanics teacher glared down at him, her mouth turned down in a frown. "I know where you are going, Ludwig," she said in a stern voice.

He felt his heart sink. There was no way his aunt would approve of this. She would tell the principal, or worse, his _father_, and there would be nothing he could do about it. That was it. The game was up, before it had even begun.

"Listen to me, Ludwig," she continued. "I will _disown_ you as my nephew if you don't _schlagen die scheiße aus diesem Feliks kind. _Do you understand, Ludwig?"

He nodded, dumbfounded. Did his aunt just tell him to beat the crap out of Feliks? Exactly _what_ was going on at this school today? The teachers were all going crazy!

Of course, it _was_ his aunt and her best friend here…

She squeezed his shoulder once more before continuing on as though nothing had happened. Shaking his head, Ludwig stashed his things in his locker and proceeded toward Junior Hall.

* * *

Sucking in a deep breath, Felicia cautiously pushed open the main doors and entered the school. She'd fully intended to stay home all day, in order to avoid all the rumors and bullying, but her father had forced her to come in during lunch. She'd already eaten, so she hoped she could quietly slip into her art class without being seen. Unfortunately, the entrance to the art room was located in one of the most crowded areas of the school: Senior Square.

Felicia clutched her books in her arms and ducked her head, watching her feet as she headed for the classroom. She'd left her hair down today, and it hung across her face, acting as a barrier. Maybe no one would recognize her if they didn't see her face…

No such luck. She accidentally bumped into someone, and she looked up fearfully. "Oh, I'm really sorry!" she said quietly, looking down again and attempting to shuffle around them.

"Hey, _slut_," he said, a sneer in his voice. She stiffened, and moved to quicken her pace.

"Look, guys, it's the whore!" another voice called out, and Senior Square erupted in laughter. Felicia felt tears prick her eyes and she tried to blink them away.

"When good girls go bad, right guys?"

"Skank!"

"Ho!"

'Bit—"

"SHUT UP!" A voice cut through the crowd, and, as one, the mob turned to face its owner.

Alfred stood at the other end of the hall, his gaze cold and expression oddly serious. "You guys need to shut up and leave her the hell alone," he growled, marching up to Feli and pulling her toward him. "Feli would _never_ do any of those things, and if you would all just pull your heads out of your asses and _look at her_, then you would all realize that. Come on, Feli," he said in a softer voice. "Don't listen to those assholes. Let's go."

She nodded, wiping at the tears that were slowly traveling down her cheeks. Alfred led her through the square amid silence, as all the seniors simply watched the pair leave. No one made any move to stop them, or even to make another remark.

"Ve, thank you, Alfred," she said quietly as they stopped at the edge of Junior Hall. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't—"

"Yeah, I was, like, totally shocked too! I mean, she parades around the school like some innocent little farm girl, and then she gets smashed and starts coming on to _everyone!_"

"Oh, no…" Feli turned to head back to Senior Square and into the Art room, but Alfred stopped her, latching onto her arm.

"Wait, Feli," he said. "Isn't that Ludwig over there?"

She followed his finger and saw that, indeed, Ludwig was standing not ten feet away, glaring daggers at Feliks. She blushed and turned to leave again, unwilling to face him after all the stories that had been told.

"Hey, _arschloch_!" The German-born stormed up to Feliks, his fists balled up and held tightly at his sides. "I'm going to give you one chance, and one chance only, to admit to these people that all these rumors are nothing more than your own twisted lies!"

Feliks laughed. "Lies? I've told nothing but the truth!" he smirked at the boy, and his eyes widened as an idea struck him. "Hey there, pimp daddy! I like, totally have some friends who say they want a piece of your whore tonight! So, like, how much is she an hour?"

Felicia bit her lip and hid her face in Alfred's arm. How could anyone say those things about her? What had she done to deserve it? Had she been mean to them? Had she run into one of them and forgotten to apologize? She just didn't understand.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Felicia that way!" Ludwig shouted, his accent thickening and his face beet-red. He grabbed hold of the front of Feliks's "wicked hipster pink" button-down and yanked him up off the bench. "You take back all of those things you said about her, or I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life!"

Feliks gulped noticeably, but then his eyes narrowed. "What? Too selfish to share a piece of the action? Last night she was, like, hitting on every guy in the room! She was totally flirting with them all: Alfred, Matthew, Roderich, Lars—she totally even came up to me and tried to, like, _seduce_ me! And then you, like, took her home and totally had a threesome with your freakish brother! Like, how on earth is that—"

Feliks didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because Ludwig decided that it was a perfect time to punch him in the face.

Shocked, Feliks stumbled backwards, putting a hand up to touch his jaw where Ludwig's fist had connected with it. He obviously hadn't believed that he would _actually hit him_, and yet Ludwig stood above him, glaring down at him with fire in his eyes. "You shut your mouth, _arschloch_. Take back every single lie you told, or your face will be mangled, worse whan you've mangled Felicia's reputation, _miststück_!"

Felicia watched with horror from the sidelines, clutching tightly to Alfred's jacket. What was…was Ludwig actually _fighting_ Feliks? For her _honor_?

"Hey, Alfred. What's going on?" Gilbert came up behind the two, followed closely by Matthew. "Oh, _scheiße_! He's totally beating the crap out of Feliks! _Mein Gott_, this is awesome!" He let out one of his strange hiss-like chuckles. "I have _got_ to get in on this!"

"No, Gil, you'll just get—" Matthew glanced over at Felicia and saw her tear-stained cheeks. He sighed. "Oh, fine. Get it over with.…"

"Yes!" Gilbert pumped a fist in the air and ran towards the fight, which had already turned into a big group of kids, punching and hitting and screaming at each other. Gilbert leaped into the fray, grabbed the first kid he saw, and punched him in the jaw. "Yeah!" he screamed excitedly. "This is how we do it! Prussian style!"

Beside him, Ludwig socked Feliks in the eye before turning toward his brother. "Gilbert! What are you doing here?"

"I'm fighting for our honor as Prussians!" Gil hooked a foot around one guy's leg and sent him flailing toward the floor.

"Gilbert!" Ludwig jabbed a kid in the gut with his elbow. "We are not Prussians! Ve are _Germans!_ We were both born in West Berlin!"

"Fine, fine." Gil twisted Feliks's arm behind his back and used him as a shield to ward off another attack. "You can be German, but I am still your awesome Prussian _bruder_!"

Ludwig pulled his arm back to knock out a few of Feliks's pearly whites, when he felt something stop him. Turning, he looked down to see none other than Felicia, gripping tightly to his arm and staring at the floor. "Please…stop," she whispered, and he could barely hear her over the clamor around them. She raised her eyes to his, and he could see the tears spilling down her cheeks, her swollen eyes. _He _had done that to her, the ass in his brother's grip, and she wanted him to just…let it go? "Violence only leads to more violence. It never solves anything. Please, Luddy…" she looked down again, her shoulders shaking. "Please. Stop."

He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath, relaxing his arm and stepping away from the fight. Behind him, his brother shrugged and decked another guy in the face, but he couldn't care less.

Because Felicia was here, gazing into his eyes, tears cascading down her face. And all he wanted to do was…hold her.

He swallowed. He'd never had the urge to hold anyone before, to hold them tight, to run his fingers through their hair, to kiss their eyelids…but now, he did. He wanted to do all those things, but… he couldn't. He was Ludwig. He was the big, scary kid with no friends and no experience in any kind of social setting.

And she was…Felicia was perfect. She was everything he wasn't: she was sweet, she was kind, she was cheerful, friendly. She was everything he could never be, and everything…everything he wanted.

Before he realized what he was doing, he had leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, softly, cautiously, pulling her closer to himself and holding her tightly against his chest. He—

He pushed away, blushing a bright red. He—He hadn't just done that, had he? Oh, God, he had. Felicia stared up at him, her mouth hanging open slightly and the color of her face matching that of his own. "L-Ludwig," she gasped. "I—"

He didn't know what she said, because before she could finish, he ran off, dodging through the crowd of still-fighting kids and running for the Gym. He hadn't just done that.

He had _not_ just done that.

* * *

**AN: Ludwig's such a liar.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Gil! Teachers are coming!" Matthew called out from his place in a nearby alcove, waving frantically and glancing back at the adults racing down the hall. Gilbert didn't seem to hear him, as he landed another punch to one of the kids, ducking to avoid a flying fist. Grimacing, Matthew stepped forward and grabbed Gil's arm, yanking him out of the mob and into the alcove, flattening himself against a wall and motioning for Gil to do the same.

The three teachers rushed past their hiding place, not even bothering to glance in, and Matthew took Gil's hand in his own and yanked him back into the hallway, dashing through Senior Square and away from the fight. The halls were nearly empty, as most of the students had run for Junior Hall as soon as they'd heard the fight break out.

They quickly found a secluded area of the school and flopped onto a bench, panting a bit. Gil turned to Mattie with a grin. "Thanks, _liebling_," he said. "Dad would _kill_ me if he found out I'd been fighting in school. Kesesese! But that sure was fun! I got to pound some face in and teach that idiot Feliks a lesson! Kesese!"

Matthew smiled at him. "Well, I don't exactly encourage violence—" Gilbert arched an eyebrow at him. What about Matthew and his hockey addiction? There was _plenty _of face-pounding in that. "—but in this case, it was definitely deserved." He frowned, noting a small trickle of blood traveling down the pale boy's face. Reaching up, Matthew brushed aside a lock of Gil's hair, revealing a small cut, probably caused by someone's ring.

Gil held his breath, watching the concerned look flash across the blond's face. Matthew sighed and shook his head. "You have to _dodge_ the hits, Gil! Geez, and I thought you were an 'awesome Prussian fighter'." He laughed lightly, pulling an alcohol swab from his wallet and dabbing at the cut.

"Ow, geez Mattie, why do you even carry that kind of thing around?" He winced as the alcohol seeped into his wound.

"'Cause you're Gil. You always get into some kind of trouble and then I end up having to fix you up." He laughed and pulled out a band-aid, slapping it on the cut and crumpling up the garbage in his hand.

"Aww, Mattie, you're so sweet~!" Gilbert batted his eyelashes at him. "Aren't you gonna kiss it better~?"

He was surprised when he saw the Canadian's face redden. "I-I-!"

The bell rang then, announcing the end of lunch, and, after a hurried good-bye, the two went off in opposite directions.

* * *

_Thud, Thud, Clank! _ "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! I'm such a moron… _Ich bin so ein idiot_!" Kicking the door of the bathroom stall one last time, Ludwig leaned against its wall and slid to the cold tile floor, cradling his burning face in his hands and attempting to slow his breathing. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could he have done that? How could he have _kissed _her? Felicia would never look at him the same way again! By letting his emotions control his actions, he had probably ruined the best friendship he'd ever had. He'd probably driven away one of the only people who had ever bothered to look past his appearance, to break down his barriers.

But…he just couldn't help it! She'd looked so sad, so vulnerable, and he'd just felt that unmistakable urge to comfort her, and somehow he had wound up with his lips pressed against hers….

He clenched his hand into a fist and pressed it against his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut. Oh, god! Had he taken advantage of her? He hadn't asked her if it would be okay…he'd just forced a kiss on her! Maybe he really was as bad as the rumors had said… Maybe he hadn't slept with her, but he'd certainly been selfish and used her!

_It was just one little kiss!,_ his inner voice chastised him. He shook his head. No, it wasn't _just_ one little kiss! It was an attack. He'd seen an opening, he'd seen how vulnerable she looked, and he'd taken advantage of it. He was despicable. The lowest of the low! Cursing, he swung his fist at the metal wall again.

"Ludwig? Are you in here, dude?" Footsteps came from outside the stall, and Ludwig stood quickly, gritting his teeth. It sounded like Alfred…. But when had Alfred ever talked to him? Sighing, he cracked his knuckles.

"Ja, it's me."

"Oh, great! I'm missing Government to be here, so you've gotta listen to me, alright?" Alfred was right outside the bathroom stall now, leaning against the door with his arms folded across his chest. "Felicia sent me in here after you."

Ludwig felt his heart skip a beat, anxiety and anger filling him. A million thoughts ran through his head—why had she sent him here? Why had she bothered with him? Did she think that Alfred would fight him? He chose to remain silent, waiting for him to continue.

"She's really upset with you y'know, dude." Well, of course she was—he'd done something as inappropriate as to kiss her! "She says that she wants to talk to you after class. She says to tell you that she'll meet you in front of the Biology room before class starts…. Look, dude, I don't really know what's up but she looked pretty stressed. I think you should go." The room was silent for a moment, and then Alfred sighed, standing up straight and exiting the bathroom. "I'll see ya later, dude…. Don't keep her waitin', alright?"

Ludwig stood in silence, and then he sighed, unlocking the stall door and stepping out. He was late for PE already, and he supposed he'd better get out there before Mr. Plum tore him limb-from-limb…. "_Nein_. I can't face her…. Not after that…" He looked into the mirror, scowling at his reflection. "Stupid, stupid!" He struck out at the mirror, cracking the glass and cutting his hand. He stared down at it. "Damn…" with a sigh, he washed his hands and dried them, resigning himself to head to class.

* * *

He had to face her, he decided, as he headed for the locker room to change after class had finally ended. He was a man. He was _Ludwig_. He would face her, he would apologize, accept the blame, and deal with the consequences. Felicia was a sweet, kind girl… maybe things would go back to the way they were, and they could remain friends, laughing and hanging out together still…

Opening the locker room door, he jumped when he heard a shout behind him.

"BEILSCHMIDT! You get yer ass over here now and explain to me why you were late to class!"

_Scheiße_! He turned to the teacher with a grimace. "Er… I apologize for that, sir. I was feeling unwell, and I was in the restroom for a few minutes before class began…." At least he wasn't lying….

The teacher's eyes narrowed. "'Sat right, Beilschmidt? 'Cause I heard tell that there was a big ol' fight goin' on durin' lunch today…. I don't s'pose _you_ had somethin' to do with that, did ya?" He gazed pointedly at Ludwig's scraped and sliced knuckles, and Ludwig shifted them uncomfortably behind his back.

"No, sir…." He glanced up at the clock behind Mr. Plum. Class had ended two minutes ago! He had lost half his time! He growled, and glared up at Mr. Plum. "Sir, unless you're going to write me an excuse for being late to my next class, I need to go!" He pushed past Mr. Plum forcefully, not caring anymore if he got into trouble; he had to talk to Felicia!

He made his escape, rushing into the locker room and hurriedly throwing his school clothes on, shoving his PE clothes into his locker without his usual care. His heart pounding, he dodged his way through the halls, making his way toward the Biology room. He slid to a halt, unsure of whether to feel glad, or to be greatly upset by the fact that Felicia was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, he entered the classroom and saw her sitting beside Matthew, her face hidden by a textbook.

She didn't even want to look at him…

Ludwig's face hardened as he took his seat and the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the class.

* * *

Felicia hadn't said a word since she had entered into the classroom, head down, chewing frantically on her fingernails. She slipped quietly into her seat and opened her textbook, setting it on its edge and ducking behind it.

Matthew's forehead creased, and he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong; the nasty rumors had quieted down immediately after the fight, he'd noticed, so she should have been at least a _little_ cheerier. He snapped it shut, however, when he noticed the tall, blond Ludwig walk in. The German glanced over at their table; specifically, at Felicia, and his expression darkened. He sat in his own seat, far from theirs, and turned his attention to the front.

Pursing his lips in thought, Matthew rifled through his backpack for his green Biology folder. A thought struck him suddenly. During the fight, he'd lost sight of Gilbert in the mayhem and had been looking frantically for him; two kids had parted, and he'd witnessed Ludwig leaning over Felicia, his arms wrapped around her waist. He'd assumed that he was hugging her, comforting her; Ludwig had run off soon after that, leaving Felicia behind.

Maybe…maybe it _wasn't_ just a soothing hug? Maybe Ludwig had actually been _kissing_ Felicia? That would explain a few things…. He had never been close to the German, but, seeing as he was his best friend's brother, he knew enough about him. He was constantly pushing aside his emotions, putting a wall up between himself and the rest of the world.

Matthew studied Felicia out of the corner of his eye, watching as she peeped secretly over the book at Ludwig. Felicia was unique in that she seemed able to break down the barriers that people made for themselves. He himself was usually pretty shy and quiet around new people; but there was just something about the cheerful, bubbly girl that had made him open up to her far quicker than he'd thought possible. It was obvious that Ludwig felt the same way, though more intensely. Matthew had never seen him happier or more outgoing than he had been in the past couple of weeks, and he knew that it was because of Felicia.

Turning back to his work, Matthew hoped fervently that they would be able to work everything out. He didn't want either of them to lose their spark.

_BEEP!_ "Excuse me, Mr. Blanchard? Will you please send Ludwig Beilschmidt and Felicia Vargas to the office with their books?"

A chorus of "Oooooh"s rang out across the room as Felicia's head snapped up. Quickly, she gathered her things and shoved them into her book bag, her heart pounding. Why were they being called to the office? Was it because of the fight? But… she hadn't done anything! Why would they call _her_ in?

"What'd you do now, Beilschmidt?" the stout teacher called out with a laugh. Ludwig glanced up at him and shrugged, quickly leaving the room. With one last glance at Matthew—who gave her a sympathetic smile—Felicia followed after him.

She kept her head down, and though Ludwig seemed reluctant to look at her, he walked alongside her at her own pace. Felicia tried to think of what to say. She had to think quickly; no matter how slowly she walked, it wasn't that far to the office from the biology room. Ludwig... He had _kissed_ her. She knew that she had felt something, when their lips had connected. Something like a long-lost memory returning, and then fading before she could fully recognize it.

But then he had pulled away from her. And his expression was not one of happiness, nor of pleasure. It had looked like...regret. But why? Why would he regret kissing her? She had felt incredible passion when his lips had met hers; had he not felt the same? Why would he kiss her if he didn't feel some sort of passion for her? Thoughts raced through Felicia's head so quickly, all at once, and she soon realized that they were almost to the office. She turned to say something, but he apparently had the same idea.

His face held a faint blush, and he tried to speak. "Feli... I—" HIs voice was quiet, barely audible. "Feli... Did you... I..." He turned his head away, unsure of what to say, his blush reddening. Then there was a voice from down the hall.

"Ah, there you two are!" The two teenagers looked up the hall to see Mrs. Kayser, one of the school secretaries, poking her head around the office door and waving them in.

Felicia's frown deepened. She had been waiting to hear what he would say, and it seemed as though she would have to wait longer still.

* * *

Ivan smiled softly at the pipe in his lap "We'll show that arrogant American a thing or two one day, won't we, Vanya?" He gently caressed its metallic form, watching for Alfred's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Beside him, Alfred glared at the Russian boy. "Dude, how did you even get that thing into the school without one of the teachers taking it away? That thing's a _weapon_, dude!" He threw his hands up in front of his face suddenly, turning away. "Ack, dude, don't hit me with it!"

In the row ahead of them, Gilbert chuckled. "Kesesese, you guys are so freaking weird! I lo—"

_BEEP! _"Excuse me, Ms. Beilschmidt? Will you please send Gilbert Beilschmidt to the office with his books?"

Gil's eyes widened as his aunt arched an eyebrow at him. "_Scheiße_!" He cursed, grabbing his books and heading for the door. "See you later, Aunt Aloisa!" he called over his shoulder. "Make sure to bury me in my awesome new shoes so I look sexy with all the other angels!"

As he left the classroom, his aunt let out a quiet growl and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Damn her nephews! She had taught them better than this! If they were going to start fights in the halls, they could at _least_ have taken out the witnesses!

* * *

Julius Vargas entered the school office with his flirtiest smile in place. They'd called him nearly an hour ago and asked him to come…they'd said something about "his daughter." What had Vina done this time…?

Behind the desk, a pretty young lady sat, writing something on a pad of paper. Waggling his eyebrows happily, he approached her and leaned across the counter. "_Ciao_, _bella_," he said. "My name is Julius Vargas, and I was called here about my daughter?" She smiled and nodded, leaning over to grab a piece of paper for him to sign. He took it and admired her beauty… long, sleek, dark hair, nicely tanned skin, lots of curves… Turning slightly so that she could see him from his best side, he leaned in toward her. "Hey, _bella_ _signora_, what would you say to meeting me after school and—VALDEMAR IS THAT YOU?"

A tall man with long, blond hair was seated across the room from him, looking anything but pleased. "Ja, Julius. It's me…"

Absently handing the paper back to the woman, Julius approached the man, dumbfounded. "Wow, Valda, it's been a… long time, hasn't it?" He chuckled, taking a seat and leaving an empty chair between them. Valdemar leveled a glare at him.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" he growled.

Julius threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey, I'm just trying to make conversation, Valda…_mar_."

Valdemar rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So, why are you here, _Julia_?"

"Hohohoho, _Valda_, you're still so funny! Anywho, I'm here for my daughter, apparently she's acting up again or something…!" He turned away from the German man and examined the woman behind the counter again. "So, what are you doing here?"

"My son. Well, both of my sons, actually. It's surprising, though; usually it's only the eldest who gets into trouble…" He rubbed his forehead anxiously.

Julius's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't know you had another son! It's been such a long time, hasn't it?"

Valdemar groaned. "Nghhh… I suppose it has." The two lapsed into silence, carefully looking away from each other as they waited for their children.

* * *

Ludwig and Felicia sat beside each other in another room, waiting for the principal to call them in. Ludwig's eyes were focused on his feet, which were planted firmly against the floor. His hand was clenched into a tight fist, the scraped skin stretching taut against his knuckles. He tried to ignore his pounding heart, but he felt sure that the girl beside him could hear it, as clear as day.

Suddenly, he felt a warm pressure on his hand, and he gasped quietly, slowly turning his head to see Feli's hand on his own, her small, slender fingers curled gently around his fist.

"Ludwig..." she said his name quietly, sadly. "Why did you run off... after you... kissed me?" She looked down at the floor, as he had been earlier. "Did you... regret it? Am I a disappointment?" She looked up at him again.

Ludwig couldn't bring himself to look up into her eyes. He stared down at her hand, touching his own delicately. It brought him a feeling of deja vu, somehow, and he forced himself to look at her, and tell her how he felt. "Felicia..." He swallowed, unsure as to how to continue. "_Nein_, I'm not disappointed in you at all." He reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his hand, stroking it gently. He leaned over to kiss her again, this time unafraid. His lips were inches from hers, when a voice called out, "Ludwig Beilschmidt! Felicia Vargas! The Principal will see you now."

* * *

**AN: Valda is a diminutive female form of the name Valdemar. Likewise with Julia and Julius.**

**Thank you for reading! Please review. uwu**


	9. Chapter 9

Ludwig pulled away from her, the moment ruined...for now. He pried his eyes from her gaze, his heart beating frantically. Strange and new emotions bubbled and swirled inside of him, mixing together and making him feel a bit sick to his stomach. But it was a…_good_ kind of sick, somehow. Felicia's hand was still on his, and she held it tighter as they both stood to follow Mrs. Kayser into Principal Zwingli's office.

Vash Zwingli was silently sitting behind his desk, across from Valdemar and Julius, when Ludwig walked in, his hand still caught firmly in Felicia's grasp.

"Oh, good, you're finally here," Zwingli spoke first, and Julius turned to see his daughter, Felicia—what? Not Lovina?—and that German boy, holding hands! He turned to Valdemar with a glare.

"What has your boy done to _la mia bellezza piccolo_?! I was expecting Vina to be in trouble, not Feli!" He stood and stared daggers at Ludwig, who shifted uncomfortably, but refused to loosen his grip. "What kind of bad influence have you been imposing on my _bella_?!"

Valdemar stood now, his gaze steely. "Now hold on, Julius. We don't know the whole story, so just calm down!" He took a firm hold of his old friend's shoulder, pulling him back to his seat. "Why don't we just let Mr. Zwingli explain, hm?"

Not calming any, Julius quickly separated Felicia's hand from Ludwig's and pulled her into the seat beside his own. Gilbert walked in at that moment, seeming just a bit nervous; Valdemar caught his eye, and held his gaze for a very long moment, before he took a seat next to his younger brother.

Felicia stared at the floor, unwilling to meet her father's eyes, but Ludwig and Gilbert's gazes were both locked on their father's terrifying glare. Though no words were spoken, they knew exactly what it meant: "You're in deep shit, boys. I don't know what you did, but you're in deep shit."

After a bit of uncomfortable silence, Zwingli spoke up.

"Well, I suppose I should tell you all why you're here. I'm sure you boys know what you did." Here he turned his gaze to Ludwig and Gilbert, who were grateful to have an excuse not to look at their father. "However, more to the point…" Now he looked at their parents, "I have been made aware of some rumors that have been floating around this school. The fact that they were allowed to escalate to the point where this meeting becomes necessary is absolutely unacceptable. Are either of you aware of these rumors?"

Julius nodded, and spoke in a hard tone, one he had not often used. "I have. They're about _la mia bellezza piccolo_ … and these two German boys."

Valdemar took the opportunity to speak now. "I haven't heard anything. But my boys don't often share anything about their lives with me. I would like to know what these rumors consist of, and, more importantly, where they came from."

"Well, that's the whole reason why you're here. You see, Ludwig took it upon himself to confront Feliks Lukasiewicz—the boy who started the rumors—and it escalated into a fistfight. From what I've been told, these rumors were about Miss Vargas here, and are a terrible lie of what happened the night of the dance this previous weekend."

"What was said about her?" Valdemar interrupted.

"The rumors are rather heinous, Mr. Beilschmidt, and involve the implication that some inappropriate action took place after the dance between your sons and Felicia." Felicia's heart was racing; she could feel her face getting hot, and tears welling up in her eyes. She still had no idea why they would say things like that about her in the first place. What had she done to them? Did she really deserve such terrible treatment? Zwingli continued, "It was later discovered that somebody had put alcohol in the punch at the dance, and Felicia became intoxicated."

Valdemar stared at Gilbert, knowing instinctively that he was the culprit. His eyes told Gilbert that he would be severely punished once they arrived home.

"Since Felicia left with Ludwig shortly after drinking the spiked punch, Feliks apparently saw it fit to tell everyone that some intimacy had occurred between them, including Gilbert." Mr. Zwingli leaned forward in his chair, resting his hands on the desk in front of him. "Now, the way your boys took care of the situation broke many school rules. I know their actions were honorable, and protecting Felicia was a very noble thing to do, but I'm afraid that they will have to be suspended. I have already spoken with the parents of Feliks Lukasiewicz, and he is receiving the same punishment and more, for starting the rumors in the first place."

"Good! Nobody treats my little girl like that and gets away with it!" Suddenly cheerful again, the Italian man stood and enthusiastically patted the two boys on their backs. "So you stood up for her, how gallant of you! I'll never forget what you did for my daughter!"

His expression softening, Valdemar stood up. "For how long will they be suspended?"

"I'm afraid it will be at least two weeks. We have very strict rules when it comes to fighting on school grounds, you see."

He nodded, "That's fine." He now looked to Julius, who was currently hugging Gilbert and Ludwig, praising them and laughing. "Julius." He took his attention away from the boys to look at his old friend. "I think that after all this, the least you could do is have your girls bring their homework to them while they are suspended." Turning to Mr. Zwingli, he added, "You could get the homework they will be missing from each class and have it ready for Felicia to pick up after school, couldn't you?"

Feeling slightly intimidated by the tall man and his cold glare, Zwingli quickly gave a nod of affirmation.

* * *

_Alexandria: Jonathon…You can do it. I know you can. Just because you've forgotten, doesn't mean you can't remember. Please, John…please, just try._

_Jonathon: (he sighs, and then looks back up, into her eyes.) Alex…_

_Alexandria: (she grips his arms and looks at him sternly) John. I believe in you. You trust me, don't you?_

_Jonathon: …With every fiber of my being. (he pulls himself away from Alexandria and stands on the edge of the rooftop. Slowly, he closes his eyes, and he begins to fall forward. Alexandria watches him silently, her hands clutched to her chest, as he falls from the rooftop)_

_Alexandria: (whispering) I believe…John…I believe…_

Alfred set his pen down and arched his back, stretching his arms out over his head. He knew just what would happen next: Jonathon, his eyes still closed, would suddenly notice a subtle change in the feel of the air against his skin, and slowly, his body would tilt itself until he was in a lying-down position. His eyes would snap open, and he would begin to fly, soaring through the skies and laughing. He would return to the rooftop and pull Alice into his embrace, lifting her into the sky and—

Had he just said _Alice_?

He shook his head and glanced over at Alice, who was bent over her own paper and scratching her pencil along at a frantic pace. He shuffled his feet slightly, tugging on his ear absently, and then stood. "Hey, Teach!" he called. "I've gotta go to the bathroom!"

Alice lifted her head slightly and rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, yes, _very_ sophisticated," she mumbled before turning back to her work. He felt his face heat.

Ms. Atwater waved him out the door, not even bothering to look up from her book—which, he noticed, was one of those manga that his Japanese friend, Kiku, read all the time. Alfred left quickly, almost running for the bathroom, turning on the tap and splashing cold water on his face. Why couldn't he just talk to her? He always felt so nervous whenever she was near: his palms grew clammy, he stuttered, he blushed. He was always so confident and outgoing… except around her.

Leaning back against the sink and closing his eyes, Alfred sighed. He shouldn't let her get to him…. She thought that he was a loud, obnoxious idiot, anyway. Why would she ever want to go out with him?

He grabbed a paper towel and dried his face and hands, crumpling it up and walking slowly back to his classroom. He had to focus on his work more…his grades were starting to slip from A's and B's into the C range in the classes he shared with her.

Alfred entered the classroom with his gaze directed to the floor a few feet ahead of him. He started to slide into his seat, when he noticed something off.

His eyes scanned his desk, and he realized that there were fewer papers there than when he had left. Panicking, he turned to Alice, about to ask if she'd seen what had happened to them, and his eyes widened.

Alice was reading his scripts.

"Uh—HEY!" He made a grab for the pages, but Alice quickly whisked them away, glancing up at him unconcernedly. "You—you can't read those! They—they're personal!" He swiped at them again, and this time she let him take them.

"Don't worry so much, Alfred," she said with a shrug. "You're a good writer. A little unoriginal, but you have a lot of potential." She turned back to her own work. "I like it."

He stood there in silence for a moment, shocked. No one had ever read anything of his before, unless you counted school assignments. And…she'd liked them? He flushed again, recalling his earlier slip-up with Alexandria's name. He sat at his desk once more and shuffled through his papers. After a moment, he mumbled, "Thanks, Alice…" and then set back to work, unaware of the small smile on his neighbor's face.

* * *

Valdemar left the school with his two sons, having already made sure that they had the homework they would be missing from their last two classes. Felicia was excused from the rest of the school day, in order to avoid any further conflicts, and the two families left the front office together.

The three teens walked together in silence, while their parents (mostly Julius) talked about "the good ol' days".

Due to the nature of their offense, Valdemar had seen fit to reduce their punishment from what he had originally intended. Instead of being beaten to a pulp, he resigned to ground them for the duration of their suspension, due to the fact that they had fought only to protect Felicia. Ludwig and Gilbert were very grateful for it, since they knew how violent their father could be.

Occasionally, Valdemar would glance back at his two sons, unnoticed by Julius, who was obliviously happy to be able to reminisce with his old friend. When he turned to them, the boys instinctively moved their gazes to the ground, in order to avoid those steely eyes.

The walk to the parking lot seemed like a silent eternity to them, though it hardly took a minute to conclude their walk of shame. Their fathers said their goodbyes, and the teens got into their respective cars. However, in the Beilschmidt car, as part of their punishment, neither of the boys was allowed the front seat.

All the way home, Ludwig could think of nothing else but Felicia. The whole meeting with the principal had been too awkward, and he hadn't had the chance to talk to her at all since just before they had been called in. He now wished that his dad had decided to beat them instead of grounding them. Being grounded meant no TV, no phone, and no computer. No way to talk to Felicia, except when she came to his house after school to deliver his homework. Of course, he'd be expected to do his homework as soon as he got it, so he wouldn't be allowed to talk for more than a minute at the most.

The day's events spun in his mind all at once, and always Felicia's happy, innocent face would pop into his head. He stared out the car window, but she was everywhere, no matter where he looked—he couldn't seem to avoid her. He wondered why he felt like this; he'd always been the one to take after his father, hiding his emotions…but, that didn't mean that his father didn't love.

_Love_? Is that what it was? Was Ludwig—the one that was always considered cold, mean, and scary—was he _really_ in love?

* * *

Felicia stared out the window of the car. She had butterflies in her stomach, and she didn't seem to be able to stop thinking of Ludwig. He had stopped those horrible rumors about her, he had defended her honor in battle, and he had kissed her—almost twice!—all in one day.

Even though he wouldn't be in school for two weeks, she knew that didn't mean that she wouldn't get to see him. After all, they were partners in Home Ec., so she'd have to go to his house to work on projects with him, and she had been put in charge of bringing his homework to him while he was suspended.

Now that she thought about it, she'd never been to his house before. Ludwig being suspended provided the perfect opportunity for her to go to his house for the first time!

All the remaining sorrow she felt faded with these thoughts, and her cheery attitude returned. She smiled and started humming to herself, gazing out the window and thinking about Ludwig all the way home.

Julius, seeing her smile return out of the corner of his eye, smiled as well. It pleased him to see his little girl smiling again for the first time since Monday morning.

* * *

Lovina had discovered that her sister had gone home early when she arrived in World History that day, and, though she had been a bit worried, she had quickly brushed it aside. School had ended by this time, and she was reluctantly on her way to her first dance practice. Dropping her textbooks and bag in her locker, Lovina sighed. The rumors had been mostly silenced by now, which was good, but she couldn't help but still feel upset by them—even though her sister was such a perfect goody-goody, and she deserved to have a _little_ drama in her life at some point.

As she walked into the gym, she was greeted by an all-too-enthusiastic Antonio. "Oh, Lovi~! You're here today!" He was grinning as he approached her, his arms wide open in an attempt to hug her, but she quickly pushed him away before he had a chance.

"Get away from me, bastard! I'm here to dance, not to be hugged and touched by you, asshole!" She moved past him and looked around at the other members of the dance team.

Among the dancers were Michelle Seyers, Lilli Zwingli, and seven others: two boys and five girls that Lovina didn't know at all. "Probably freshmen…" She thought.

Having been brushed off, Antonio pouted at her for just a moment before he started the dance practice off, showing them all the steps to a new—and quite complicated—dance. Lovina tried her best to keep up with each step, but after failing twice and letting out a growl of frustration, Antonio stepped in to help her himself. He stood behind her, guiding her feet with his own and moving her hands accordingly with his. She was blushing bright red, and stumbled more with his help than without it at first.

Though deeply embarrassed, Lovina closed her eyes and allowed him to lead her through the dance, her movements quickly becoming fluid and natural as his hands guided her.

"You are beautiful, Lovi." Antonio smiled, and helped her with the final steps of the dance. She came back to reality, a blush still gracing her cheeks, and looked into his eyes.

"… _G_-_grazie_…" Antonio was staring into her eyes passionately, a gaze she'd never had turned on her before. Her red face darkened even more, but neither of them moved or said anything. That is, until the rest of the dance team, who had been patiently waiting for them to snap out of it, all cleared their throats at once with a rather loud "Ahem."

Antonio and Lovina looked up simultaneously, startled at having the moment disturbed. Realizing what just happened, Lovina pushed him away forcefully, "WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME, YOU TOMATO BASTARD?!" she yelled at him, obviously a forced reaction.

"Aww, Lovi, you're so cute when you blush~!" Antonio approached her again, going in for another hug.

"Er… Get away from me, _bastardo_! What do you think you're doing?" She tried to be angry with him, but the anger wouldn't come to her as it usually did; only embarrassment and something…new. She was feeling something she hadn't really felt before. What was it, though? What was keeping her from being angry with him for getting so close to her?

She wasn't sure, but all she knew was that she, for some strange reason, wanted nothing more than for him to hold her close…

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the delay in updates! My computer's been having problems, and I haven't been able to use it much lately. I have a new battery charger on the way, though, so hopefully things will be picking up soon!**

**Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


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